Journey

Last week I was able to go to high school camp with Lake Pointe.  I had gone two years ago and had lots of fun, so I was looking forward to it.  And I am going to say I had more fun this year than two years ago.

Camp is in Orange Beach Alabama, which is always so beautiful.

One day we were eating dinner out on the balcony and saw some dolphins.  If you look closely you can see them.  There were about 8 or so of them.

However, this year we had some bad weather.  Here are some of the groups shots while we were trying to take massive group shot (over 500 high schoolers came to camp), excuse our crazy hair, because it was very windy.  Here are the girls from my condo:

Here are the leaders from Firewheel.

Worship was awesome, and the rec games were fun.  However, my group could never seem to win (story of my life). 

The ride home gave the name Journey a whole new meaning.  It ended up taking us 20 hours to get home, instead of just 12 like it should.  We left around 10am Sunday morning and I got home 6am Monday morning.  It was pouring down rain when we left, so traffic was bad, and everyone was driving real slow.  Then we randomly made a wrong turn and we ended up on a dirt road.  Also some of the busses’ bathrooms didn’t work so stops took forever. 

Hey we eventually made it home, kids go saved, and that’s really all that matters :)

Summer So Far

Well so far it’s been a busy summer.  I have yet to have a day off.  I went to up Dallas to go to high school camp with Jeremy (see post above).  I went ahead and flew up two days early so I could spend some time with my family.

On Tuesday Leslie and I went to see the grandparents.  Here is a picture of us with grandmother and granddaddy.

That evening was when Venus crosses in front of the sun.  Dad helped set up the binoculars so we could see it.

That small tiny dot is it!!  Happens only twice every 120 years, and it happened 8 years ago as well, so that’s it for another 120 years.

While I was at camp my baseball team won the state championship!!!!  So was updating the website like a madwoman to check the score.  When I came back I watched it, and even though I knew the outcome it was still exciting.

School’s Out!

Well it is official.  It is summer.  It has been a pretty good month of May.  Some exciting things have been happening at school.  First off I had 100% passing rate on the TAKS test!!  I was genuinely worried about a few students, but they managed to pull through!

Second, next year I will be teaching economics!!  As many of you know I majored in economics in college, and that is where I ultimately wanted to me.  However, I knew I had to bide my time until I could get there. I’m just glad is was sooner than later.  I love world history, but I am so excited about economics.  Here is a picture of the girls on my new team, when we were at graduation.

And lastly, I have been spending some of my weekends going to the baseball games.  The baseball team has made it through all the rounds of the playoff and are going to the state tournament in Round Rock next weekend.  I have about 6 kids on the team (and four who start) so that is exciting- because I know them but also because it means they will still be good next year as well.

This was when we beat Clements- I really thought that I was going to due since there was no screen for the foul balls.

The last games were played at University of Houston.  I went to the one on Friday night and they sealed their trip to state on Saturday.

Some of the teachers are planning on going to Round Rock.  I will be in Alabama helping Jeremy with high school camp.  But don’t worry I have people who will be updating me on the scores! 

My Mother’s Day Gifts

This year I made my mother’s day gifts.  With the help of some Pinterest inspiration this is what my gifts looked like.

I made one for Russell’s mom, my mom, and Christina (see post below).  Each one had their own monogram and within the letter I used fabric paint to write their names, and then paint over it to give it a cool look.

Here is a picture my mom sent of it on her door!

I am very proud of how they turned out!  Now I have to find the energy to make myself one!

Cohlby and Christina’s Wedding

Over Mother’s Day weekend we were in Godley Texas (yes we didn’t know where that was either- between Cleburne and Granbury- does that help?!?) for Russell’s best friend growing up, Cohlby and his now wife Christina.

Christina is very crafty and basically did all the decorations by her self.  very country chic!

This was my view of Russell for most of the wedding – the beautiful decorations got in the way

A little bit of Africa

Here is a video that Jeremy put together of our time in Africa.  I am still working on a presentation, but this will have to do for now!

http://vimeo.com/40684777

South Africa 2012 from Jeremy Taylor on Vimeo.

Periwinkle Gala

On Saturday night, Russell and I had the opportunity to go to the Periwinkle Gala.  Russell’s mom, Kathy is on the board for the Periwinkle Foundation, which is a camp for kids with cancer.  Every year they have a fundraising gala to help raise funds so kids can go to camp.  This years theme was circus.  And we were met out front by this guy:

 

Complete with marching band.

Some impressive balloon work (better than anything we could do in Africa)

It was a fun night.  There were some carnival game.  For $50 you could go “fishing” for a gift bag.  Russell won a camera!!  And a strong man competition.

Inside the ballroom there was a silent auction going on.  Russell and I got in on the action.  In the end we didn’t end up winning any of our bids.

After dinner they also had a live auction.  I will just remind you that the most of the people here were doctors, so one of the items (a private jet ride) went for $22,000.  Russell and I were a bit out of our league. 

They also bid for campers.  Starting off with $10,000 to sponsor a whole cabin (it costs $1000 per camper).  Russell and I finally joined in for half a camper. lol.  Hey we tried!

We had a blast!