Keep Calm.

Do you hate the sound of your voice on tape?
I do.

I once had to record myself interviewing a teacher for a doctoral class I was taking in grad school.  Then I did lots of super fancy language-analyzing and wrote a lengthy paper, which I presented to my class, complete with {required} audio clips from the interview.   You can probably imagine how red my face got at those parts--not just for the awful pitch I perceived in my voice, but for the fact that a group of my very smart peers were sitting there listening to my conversation--my questions, my giggles, my 'ums', my reactions.

Can you imagine how much worse my embarrassment might have been if my classmates had been watching a video recording of me instead of just the audio?  There would be so much more to cringe about than my strange voice; such as my weird mannerisms, shiny skin, or hair mishaps.

I think that I will soon know how that feels.

During our staff meeting tomorrow afternoon, the other teachers at my school will gather together to watch...you guessed it...me. Teaching a lesson.  On the big screen.   {holyfreakingcowwhathaveIgottenmyselfinto!?!?!}

It's a good thing. Really.  At least that's what I keep telling myself.  {Over and over.}  The administration wants to show other teachers the things they like about my teaching style (which, as I told them, is totally and completely stolen from the masterminds of Whole Brain Teaching!!!)

But I'm freaking out.  Because when I was approached about the video, I was told that another teacher was also being recorded for a similar purpose.  But she didn't get recorded.

And so what might happen tomorrow could be my very worst kind of nightmare.... A cafeteria full of my colleagues watching {and listening to} me {and only me} on screen.  

To get through tomorrow....

This better be one killer addition to my resume, that's all I'm sayin'.

Banish the Skinny Talk

Via this amazing article from the Gospel Coalition, I found some of these hilarious advertisements from way (?) back when...when a little cushion and curves was considered waayyyy hotter than skinny.   Who wishes for that time period?  And who finds it sad if we do?

Article Quote:  "Historically, padded women were considered beautiful, because only the rich and idle could achieve such a figure, and because curviness indicated fertility. For women of past generations curviness was extremely hard to achieve unless you had the money to eat well and work little. Thanks to trans fats and high-fructose corn syrup, this is no longer the case. Ironically, the rich and idle of today strive to look undernourished and overworked. And the rest of us rush to follow suit."

Article Quote: "What if in 2013 we decided to fast not from food but from body-talk? Sure---hit the gym, eat the Paleo diet, run six miles a day, wear Spanx from neck to knee. Just stop talking about it. Stop telling your friend she looks skinny---instead tell her you love her sweet spirit." 

Article Quote: "If someone comments on your own shape, say thanks and change the subject. Banish body-talk to the same list of off-limits topics as salaries, name-dropping, and colonoscopies. Apply the discipline you use to work out to controlling your tongue. Do this for your sisters, and by the grace of God, we could begin a legacy of womanhood that celebrates character over carb-avoidance, godliness over glamour."

Article Quote: "Where will you devote your energy in the new year? Go on a diet from discussing shape and size. Feast on the Word of Truth."

How's that for a New Year's Resolution?

Article: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/01/01/new-year-new-self-control/

Images source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2067821/Add-5lb-solid-flesh-week-The-vintage-ads-promoting-weight-GAIN.html

Welcome, 2013

Well, it is the eve of a new year.  I've never been much for resolutions, or even for staying up until midnight, to be honest.  I think, as a teacher, my new year really happens in August.  And, for the past several years, the NYE holiday has been clouded by stressful attempts to fit all my Christmas presents in a suitcase totaling 50 pounds or less.  But this year feels different. After The Best Year Ever (2011) and The Year of Provision (2012), I'm looking forward to discovering what 2013 has in store for us.

It's not a surprise to anyone who knows me that my new teaching job hasn't been a blast.  In August, excited to have my first grown-up job in America and bursting with a desire to make a difference for the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum, I felt slapped in the face by the U.S. Public Education system.  Nearly every negative thing I'd heard or read about our schools I was experiencing.  Teaching to the test.  A school culture centered entirely around test scores.  Bare classrooms. Bureaucracy.  Ridiculous demands on my time.

I wallowed for a long time.  I cried every day for the first several weeks.  I didn't eat well.  I got mad at Daniel, even though he did nothing wrong.  I missed Pinares and my former students so badly it hurt.  I doubted why we ever decided to come back.  I was sad all the time.

Then I started adjusting.  I didn't love it, or even like it, but I was getting a handle on what was expected. I was doing a good job. Administrators seemed to like me. I started teaching adult English classes, which was fulfilling and provided a little extra cash.  At home, Daniel had acquired two jobs and we started renting our guest room through Airbnb.com, so money wasn't such a struggle.  Things started looking up.

No, it hasn't been the best year ever, like 2011.  I like to think of 2012 as the Year of Change.  Our lives at this moment are so different than they were in 2011.  But I'm sticking the title I chose back in April--the Year of Provision. God has provided for our every need. In every way.  I'm awed by it.  It seems like I should have had to work a lot harder to get all of this to work out.  An international move. New city. New jobs.

Gratitude is an understatement.  I am sitting here, ready to go celebrate the dawn of a new year, and so humbled by the realization that I wasted so much of the past few months mourning what we left behind, instead of living in the present.

So I am resolved not to waste any more of my life in 2013. I will focus on the good things happening, even amidst any crappy situations I may face.  I will work hard, and know that it's not in vain.

Here's to the new year!

 But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3: 13-14.

This One's For Mallory

Things You Should Know About My Sister

She is, without a doubt, the fun one.

She bakes wedding cakes. 

 

She takes charge.
She's the kid that teachers picked to be the lead actress in the school play, to participate in special activities (such as appear on the show What Would You Do on the Nickelodeon field trip), and to represent the student body.  Now that she's all grown up, she is still making waves as this amazingly awesome engineer who isn't afraid to take on responsibilities that would make me run away and hide.

She's so pretty.

"What can I say? I'm adorable!"

In the past, she didn't know how to smile. Fortunately, she outgrew that problem. 
Oh how I wish I could post a picture of one of Mallory's terribly fake, strained, 8-year old smiles... The poor girl somehow came to believe that smiling for a camera was like some bit feat to attain.  You can imagine, perhaps, what it looks like when an elementary-school aged, thumb-sucking tomboy who believes that smiling is a lost art gets stuck in front of a camera and told to "smile."

Now look who's smile is fake!  :)

She cares for the environment and social justice and especially H2O. 
And so do I. We keep each other in check.

And she can build things like...this... which, I'm sure, does
very good things and is very helpful to both people and water.

She's the coolest nerd you'll ever meet.  I mean, really.
nerdy qualities: knitting socks, math, engineering, reading, book clubs, baking
cool qualities:  running, biking, marathons, triathlons, looking hot, ex-cheerleader/surfer.
Somehow she mushes up all those qualities into one very awesome (pretty, strong) body.

She's an excellent eyebrow plucker. 
The first time I convinced Mallory to groom her face, I thought her unibrow was so out of control that it required chemical removal before successful plucking could even be achieved. Then, the first time I brought tweezers to her face, you would have thought I used them as a torture device.  She screamed with each and every pluck.  Yowzers. I still remember it.
I really don't know when or how, but she got over that phobia. Now she's my favorite eyebrow artist.  She knows what she's doing.

She gets along very well with my husband. 
And that was always the highest requirement in the search for a spouse.

 

She's joined me as a Master. 
(Well, on December 14th, officially!!!)

This, times two.  

She's my best friend.

What's New Pussycat?

Yes, I am still here.  It was touch-and-go there for a while, but I think I'm ok and almost back to my former self.  We've been in the States now for four incredibly full, exhausting months.  Here are a few updates....

1. We now have a cat. 

My friend at work told us about this kitty that needed a home. Her previous family had to move back to the U.K. somewhat suddenly and were looking to either give her away or take her to the pound.  Well, we hemmed and hawed for about...oh...a few hours, before we decided to take her.  We renamed her Bonnie Blue and we are having a lot of fun living with a quirky, kitty diversion.

2. We now both have two jobs.  

Daniel is an audio visual technician now for both Nickelodeon Resort and Leu Gardens!  

I picked up an additional gig teaching adult English classes twice a week to parents of students at my school.  

3. We now have fall decor.

Ok, so this isn't really a new event or anything, but I wanted to share the pictures.  I made a wreath. :) And, Mallory sent me some lovely fall leaves from Tennessee

4. We joined a lifegroup with our church. 

Well, we attended twice.  But, we like it and it's nice to be hanging out in Christian community again. 

5. Daniel carved his first pumpkin.

This isn't it...(I couldn't find a picture...), but this is what we brought to share at the party. 

6. We seem to be smiling more lately. 

7. {just one more thing}

I spiced up my classroom wall with pictures of previous classes.  (I'm just missing a picture of last year's class... I didn't have one printed out).  It makes me very happy, which is something I need help with some days.