Katelynn is On Her Way!

So, Alisha called me today at 12:45 pm and left a message to tell me she is having the baby! I don't know anything else, they won't answer their phones (no surprise). All I know is where. I am sure I will get a call later. So, pray for them! I will post pictures as soon as I get some!

Bad Day

So, my kids today are crazy. It is very frustrating, as a teacher, to never have calm in your classroom. I am not made for these fifth graders. I miss my young kids!

We are getting a lot back in taxes! Exciting! We knew this so we purchased a much needed washer and dryer. We planned to pay for these with taxes. Now, we find out that Jake's Jeep is messed up. It is going to cost almost $900 to fix it and he needs new tires. We don't have that money. It is so frustrating. We planned to start saving for a home and getting my loans paid off quickly. But these things just keep racking up.

Jake applied for a job. It looked really good, but he didn't get it. I really wanted him to get it. One, to have the extra money and two, for him to have something he enjoys doing.

As I sit here, I know I am keeping this all and giving none to God. We had this really great plan but I guess that's not in God's plan. I need to give this to God and let Him take it. I wish such a thing came easier to me.

My Valentine's Day

So, we had decided to celebrated on Friday. I had the day off school but Jake worked all day. When I woke up and went downstairs there were rose petals and a card on the coffee table. Inside the card was a post-it note. The note said, "There is another post-it behind this one. You can't look at it until 4 pm. So, I was good and didn't look all day long until 3:53pm and I couldn't wait any longer! It said, "Go shopping for whatever you want. I promise. Just don't come home until I call you." That was perfect! I had been needing more clothes for school so I went and enjoyed myself. I got lots of new tops and a few pairs of pants and a new purse.

Around 6 he called and told me to come home. I got back to a candlelit dinner. He made me shrimp scampi. We enjoyed that and then he told me to go upstairs and enjoy a bath. He lit candles all over the bathroom and wrote "I love you" all over the mirrors. When I got out of the bath there were candles and rose petals all over the bedroom.

It was all nice and thoughtful. I think he did very good for our first Valentine's. We'll see if it stays this good!

It's Been a Long Time

So, I am a bum and quit posting on this for awhile. I have been reading blogs, just not writing. Let's see what have we been up to...

Well, we moved and are all settled in there. The apartment is smaller than I would like but it works for now. It is in a great location and there are no major problems so I will count my blessings. Jake is still at Wal-Mart. He is still hoping for a new job but he realized that it may be awhile. His managers are starting to realize that he is a hard worker and give him better hours.

I am working at Jane Addams Elementary School. I am doing a long term sub job (the teacher is out on maternity). I have already been there two weeks and I will be there at least 4 more. I am kind of hoping she just decided to stay at home with her new baby. I am teaching 5th grade. Which I am not certified for (but I guess that is ok since it is just a sub job). I feel qualified to do it, it is just way out of my box. It is definitely a challenge. These older kids can be mean! This is a little school way out in west Tulsa. There are only two fifth grade classes (36 kids total). I have each class for half a day and teach social studies and reading. It has been a challenge for the kids to respect me and listen. I feel like we are almost there. As a sub, I have found it's hard for the kids to respect you as much as their real teacher. You have to really show who is boss. I don't like being all mean and demanding but these kids are requiring me to in order to have order in the classroom.

It is a little more stressful than I thought it would be. The kids are about to take state tests and I am responsible for getting them ready. So, I did some assessment to see what I needed to refresh them on and it seems like these kids are no where near ready. I feel like I would be looked upon badly if they do not do well. I want to impress the principal so she will hire me and I really just want the kids to succeed. So, I am really just stressing about it. Jake made a good point. He said, "will you be given the credit if they succeed?" I said, "probably not" and he replied, "then you probably won't be if they do poorly either." But really no matter who gets the credit, as their current educator I just want them to do well and I don't know if I have the time to get them to where they need to be! Boo on state tests! I am so glad that as a teacher in my own classroom, I won't have to deal with them! Yay for early childhood!

Jake and I joined First Baptist Tulsa this morning. We visited with Jared and Sierra several times and really felt comfortable with everyone. I have never gotten comfortable with a group so quickly! It is nice to have a church home now. I think the big church scene will be good for me. I think it is important to be involved in a church and serve. But sometimes, I think I do it to get noticed and feel important. In a church this size, it will be hard to be noticed. So, it will give me a check on the reasons I do what I do. I love the pastor, he does amazing sermons with great truths. He presents the information in a way that can apply to everyone. I am already signed up to work the day camp this summer as a job and go on the spring break trip with the 5th and 6th graders to San Antonio.

That is pretty much it so far! I am going to try and keep this up better.

In other news: Alisha is doing well. She had a shower a few weekends ago. She is definitely ready to have Katelynn here. Last weekend she had regular contractions so she went to the hospital but they said they weren't strong enough to dilate her so they sent her home. I haven't heard anything else since. Her official due date is March 5th but they said she is fully developed so there would be no harm in her coming early. Alisha said to me on her way home from the hospital, "If anything else happens, Chris will probably be the one to call you. If these pains get 10x worse like they say, I will be too busy screaming." Pray that everything goes well!

Long Time No Type

I figured I should write so that you know I am still alive. We are moving this Saturday and man is this all stressful. I have decided I am crazy for moving at this time of year.

I went to my last BCM Impact as a student. It was very surreal. I made myself sit afterwards and journal how I was feeling. I wrote three pages about the BCM and what it means to me. I wanted to make sure that I never forget all that Bob and Deb and the BCM did for me. I also wrote them a long thank you letter. I know they don't get enough of those. Bryce was upstairs after the service also. At one point I went to hug him. We looked at each other and then at the room and we both started to cry. I was glad to not be the only one going to miss that place.

I enjoyed my last week at Woodall Elementary. I am going to miss those kids. I got gifts from several students and my teacher. Also, the students made me a book of what I taught them. I will always cherish that. It was awesome!

We graduated on Saturday. It was nice to have family in town and see us. The ceremony was shorter than I expected which was nice. My favorite part was when the entire crowd stood and clapped for us. I am not proud of myself for a lot of things but graduating is one of them. Going to college was something I always wanted to do and to have finally finished that is an amazing feeling.

Moving is scary and sad but I know God wants us to leave. It is hard to leave a place and people that have been so instrumental in me growing into an adult. I love this town and it will always be special to me. It is scary to move on to something I don't know. I hate not being in control! I don't have a job and we are without a church. But God is in control and I know it will all work out.

I saw on facebook that you were getting packages from home. I know you said that was a problem over there so I am glad they are getting to you. That is awesome about Narine's decision. I will be praying for her and you as you continue to work for His cause.

I miss you and love you!
Tricia

Thanksgiving

Jake and I enjoyed our Thanksgiving. We came to Tulsa on Tuesday and had dinner at Sierra and Jerad's. She is a yummy cook! On Wednesday we went apartment hunting. That is a very overwhelming task in Tulsa. But we think we found it! It's a little townhouse on 65th & Mingo. Not very big but it will do and is for a good price. Moving means we had to pass our kittens on to a new home. His brother took them in. Pet deposits are huge in Tulsa! We are excited about all this but moving is a big task. We looked at how much it costs to rent a U-Haul, just over $100! Yikes! But we need one so we know it will have to happen (stay tuned for more).

Wednesday night we went to his family's place. I sat in the kitchen and talked to his mom and helped her make dinner. I love feeling a part of their family! You can tell she loves having daughters around.

Thursday we drove to Broken Bow (3.5 hours south of Tulsa). My dad's mom lives there. We recently found out she has Parkinson's disease and has been falling a lot. It is scaring the family and making us realize that her time left may be short. So, everyone went down there. It was neat to have everyone together and this was Jake's first chance to get to know everyone. He fit right in and everyone loved him. It was a great and relaxing day.

Remember the U-Haul issue? As we were leaving my aunt gave us $20 for gas money and my Granny slipped us $100 for graduation money. Isn't God awesome? In every little way He has taken care of us. I hate leaving our church but I feel that this is what God wants us to do right now. So, Tulsa here we come!

My Life Lately

It has been a few weeks, so I decided that I needed to post again. 

Jake and I are 99.9% sure that we are moving to Tulsa over Christmas break. We will be looking for apartments (blech) next week. I do not look forward to the actual moving part. But I am excited as to what God will do with us. We haven't really broadcasted anything yet, I am scared to hurt people if anything changes. 

I am loving my internship. I only have two weeks left. That makes me sad. I feel like I am a part of the school and this class. My current teacher has been really good in letting me handle a lot of what is going on in the classroom. I teach all but one subject now. It is fun and stressful :) She was gone for three days last week. So I was the teacher (there was a sub for legal reasons but I was in charge). It was a lot of fun and definitely the most realistic view of teaching that I have had so far. I go tomorrow to fill out paperwork with Tulsa Public. Hopefully I can get on for the spring! That would be a major blessing. 

Jake and I are great. Sometimes it scares me how great we are. Does that make sense? Like this is too good to be true. Just you wait! Jake got Thanksgiving off at Wal-Mart (major blessing) so we will get to see our families. I am excited for the holidays to come. 

Know that I am always reading your blogs. I don't always comment because I don't always know what to say. But I am thinking of you often and praying for you! Love you!