so proud!

I am now the proud wife of a seminary graduate. He actually graduated May 22, but I waited for the pictures to be posted so you could see how cute he was in his cap and gown. So many begin seminary and never finish.... I am so proud of his determination to complete what he began! (It is by no means an easy task for most... taking Hebrew and Greek....to receive a Master of Divinity.... but he made it look easy!) Needless to say I am so proud of my little graduate!

3 yrs. ago today I married my high school sweetheart! I can't believe it's already been 3 yrs. Then again to look at all that we have done (graduated from college, moved twice, been on countless trips, started new jobs, graduated from seminary.....) it's hard to believe it's only been 3 yrs. To say I am blessed beyond measure, isn't even close to being accurate! I know I am biased, but I am pretty sure I'm married to the most amazing man in the world. I'm probably the only wife that never has to pick up after her husband.... he's neater than I am (most of the time I'm thrilled with this... other times it's slightly annoying) I'm very grateful though. He's my favorite preacher, my favorite athlete to watch play, but most importantly... he truly is my best friend. I am thrilled that I get to spend the rest of my life with this man!

bittersweet

Desks are cleaned out, backpacks are stuffed (with art boxes, cot stuff, and play-dough) and name tags are ripped off the desks... the end is finally here. I have so enjoyed my year with this group. It was a very easy fun year. I'm now a little scared of what I'll end up with next year. It will be neat to see what God has in store for them... my sweet little interesting characters. Farewell my sweet kiddos!

reality?

Of course we would be in a TV transition time for the Survivor finale, Bachelorette premiere, and American Idol finale! So obviously, I didn't watch any of them... no dvr= no TV time for Candace. (Thankfully they're coming out today to get us fixed up!) Although I did not see any of these, I am glad to hear that J.T. won Survivor and Kris won AI! Thank you to all that voted for Kris! Now I do not have to throw up b/c the boy kisser didn't win. I will admit that I love reality TV. I guess I'm intrigued b/c there's no way I'd ever try out for any of the shows... (maybe Amazing Race w/ D)...And really how much "reality" is really involved in staged games, staged rose ceremoies, etc.... I don't care though. I just have a weird fascination for them and will keep watching!

humbled

Last night mom and I went shopping. Our goal was to buy things to finish decorating my house. We did do some of that, but we actually spent most of the time shopping for summer clothes and swimsuits. (Let's just say we did so much shopping that I didn't get home until 1o... and those of you who know me know that's way past my bedtime on a school night!) We agreed that swimsuit shopping is depressing, but more than that I found that it is extremely humbling! I think I'll give up and just wear a moo-moo on the beach!

pray

While out on the playground, one of my little boys came up to me and said, "J won't leave me alone. I'm trying to pray!" :)

finally

Finally.... We are done looking at houses. Finally..... We are done dealing with a weasel. Finally... We are moved in to our new house! Thanks to all of our hard working friends and family we are officially living in our house! Most of the moving actually occurred Friday night for fear that rain would be a problem Saturday. It didn't hurt that we had 2 large flat bed work trucks with lift gates and 8 hardworking guys... and their wives of course! In fact a lot of decorating and organizing has already made our house look like a home. Now we certainly are not finished unpacking boxes, but are on our way. Thankfully, I only have 4 days of school left so I will then have plenty of time to get everything else in it's place. Now my OCD husband already has plans for accomplishing tasks each day. Apparently, next weekend we are conquering the flower beds. :)

*Pictures are soon to come!*

officially official!

We are officially home owners! With such a rocky house buying experience, I don't know why I assumed the closing would go smoothly. The normal 20-30 minute closing took us 2 hours. Let's just say it was not our fault once again. But who cares... let the moving begin!

nieces

I know I am biased, but aren't these the cutest little nieces in the whole world?!

house update

This has been the biggest roller coaster of my life! Surely it's not this difficult every time. (I'm hoping!) Or I'll never move again! Oh wait, we're in the ministry... scratch that. I know ultimately the Lord is in control, but good grief... one day we think it's a done deal and then there is some sort of miscommunication and it's back up in the air again! Today was the day. We finally wrote an offer and left it with the seller as you either agree to this or we're walking. Thankfully he agreed. So as of this moment, we are closing tomorrow... I'll let you know if something changes.

Idol

This is the first season of American Idol that I have actually watched from beginning to end. I have definitely not been disappointed! Here are my thoughts on the final 3:

Adam- he is a boy kisser and I will throw up if he wins

Danny- very talented, I'd buy his album

Kris- there is just no other... He has the smoothest voice (even though I wasn't found of his 2nd song last night) and he should definitely win AI this season!!!!

closing!!!

As of right now, we are officially closing on our house Friday!

oh dear...

Today in class we were making a dog puppet. Our curriculum provides different art projects that can be cut and then glued together.... well, this was one of them. I held up the paper that had each item on it and asked them what each item was. These things were very easy to identify... so I thought. I pointed to the ears and asked what they were called. One little boy shouted, "BOOBIES!"

recipes

I am not one that has culinary skills coming out of my ears. I do very much enjoy cooking and baking, but it doesn't happen often. Our busy schedule keeps us on the go so much that a sit down... at the table... home cooked meal doesn't happen as much as I'd like. My goal for this summer is to cook much more often. I love finding new recipes. How can you help?.... you might wonder... share with me some of your family's favorite recipes! Daniel will be very appreciative!

only 9 days left?!

As I got up and got ready for school today, this realization hit me: I only have 9 days left with my class. Some days this really excites me, but this morning as I thought about this I began to really get sad. I only have 9 days left to hold these little hands, tie their little shoe laces, and listen to their crazy stories. I am definitely ready and excited about the summer, but actually having to give up these 8 kids will be hard. They have been such a joy to teach. Now not every day is a perfect day, but we get through it. I can't believe in 9 days they will no longer be mine to correct and teach. How in the world am I going to do this with my own children when I am having a hard time giving up someone else's child?!

Happy Momma's Day!

I wanted to dedicate this blog to my momma. People say that as women when you get older you begin to talk and act like your mother. Well, the older I get the more that statement becomes more true... thanks mom. On the flip side, I have a great mom so it's not all bad and annoying. :) Looking back over my life she has always been our #1 fan, #1 encourager, and #1 support system. So mom, thanks so much for the countless meals, countless loads of laundry, countless hours at the gym, softball and soccer fields, hours at the doctor's office, hours of taking us shopping, what seemed liked countless hours in that dumb emergency room and most importantly thank you so much for your unconditional love and support. You're the best! I mean what other mom carries every necessary pill imaginable in their purse, calls to inform you there is a tornado coming, yells at the refs, is more than a little overprotective, and wants to fix everything for everyone.... but we know you wouldn't do this if you didn't love us so much! Let's face it.... we wouldn't have turned out so awesome if you weren't so great!

I can't blog about Momma's Day without mentioning the momma I gained on May 26, 2006. I am very blessed to have a great mother in-law! If there is a perfect mother in-law then I definitely have her! Thank you too, Momma D, for everything!

oh the drama!

4-5 year olds have such a life full of drama! As we were coming in from outside, I saw one little boy with big alligator tears rolling down his face. I said, "Buddy, whats wrong?" He replied, "Amy said she wouldn't be my friend." I opened my mouth to encourage Amy to be his friend and she looked at me with very serious eyes and said, "Mrs. Jerkins, he wants me to marry him, but I just don't think I want to marry anyone." :)

aren't we glad she clarified?

After nap time, I made a quick trip to the restroom. While preparing to use the restroom I see 2 little hands under the stall next to me. What are 2 little hands doing on the floor?.... you might ask. I hear, "Mrs. Holland is that you?!"... the 2 little hands then get closer followed by a little head. "Oh Mrs. Jerkins! It's you!" Aren't we glad she investigated and clarified?

accident prone?

Last night D had a basketball game. Let me back up and say that since we have been married he has broken a tooth, severely sprang his ankle so badly we thought it was broken, dislocated his left thumb, and almost had his eye gorged out....yes you heard me right... (and I probably left something out.) Well, last night he dislocated his right thumb. Now you'd think the solution to this problem would be to give up sports. I've come to the conclusion that's not going to happen. So what do we do about my accident prone husband?....it looks like we're just going to have to get better insurance!

exercise= no fun

Summer is quickly approaching. I love summer! Summer holds many wonderful things: no school, mine and daniel's birthdays, layout by the pool time, family vaca. to the beach, family vaca. to the lake, camp.... I could go on and on. I thoroughly love everything about summer except maybe the Memphis heat... that I could do without. It does make jumping in the pool much more refreshing though. Well... with summer quickly approaching that means having to get into a swimsuit is that much closer. I'll be honest... I have packed on a few pounds and I don't think it's fair to use the fact that I was in a sling for awhile a reason why I did so. I like food. I like to eat. I do NOT like to exercise. I love playing sports, but to me that's not exercise... it's just fun. Running on a treadmill= no fun. (I don't find running outside any better!) I have decided there are two kinds of people: people who are runners and those who aren't. I am in the "aren't" category. I am trying desperately to get myself in the other category though. I love Jon and Kate plus 8. I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard that she lost a lot of weight because she has begun running every morning for an hour. This blows my mind! To run 10 minutes for me is pure torture.... even while watching Jon and Kate plus 8. We leave June 1st to go to the beach so I have to be swimsuit ready by then. I don't want to be the beached whale in Destin! Ok my faithful exercising friends.....Any ideas on how to make exercising more enjoyable?

count your blessings

Today in class we were counting our blessings. Well, really each child got an opportunity to tell what they were thankful for.... which in turn allowed them to see that each of them had been very blessed. I heard, " I'm thankful for: mom, dad, Jesus..." all were very typical answers.... until it was T's turn. He was very proud to admit that he was thankful for the toilet. The more I thought about his answer the more I too am thankful that I don't have to squat behind a tree!

no power

I awoke this morning to thunderstorms. Oh great.... another rainy day. Don't get me wrong, I really love rainy days, but we have had so many lately that I feel overwhelmed with laziness and sleepiness. Rainy days are so cozy that they make you want to lay on the couch and take a nap. Therefore these days tend to make me less productive.

Not only did I awake to rain, but to no power. My first thought was, "What in the world am I going to do?!" As if I was the only person to ever be affected by having no power. So how do you turn a rainy, no power morning into a better day.... you light as many candles as you can, put a clip in your hair, and pray that your eyeliner is straight!

honesty

I have found in my short time as a teacher that for some reason ....no matter how short or long... most kids like to play with our hair. It would not be unusual for you to come to our school's playground and see 2-4 kids gathered around the 2 teachers lucky enough to grab the bench. I happened to be one of the lucky ones this afternoon. After a few minutes of the little girl playing with my hair, she said, "Mrs. Jerkins, your hair feels fake." I guess I used too much hairspray today. Either that or I need a new conditioner.

challenge

Sunday started a 4 day revival in our church. I was excited to see how a smaller church handled "revival." John Bramlett, Don Hammons, Jim Collier, Phil Weatherwax, and John Malley are our guest speakers this week. Last night Jim Collier spoke. It was a great message about true worship. We were all created to worship. We are to worship him here on this earth and those of us who have a personal relationship with him will worship him forever in heaven. Many put on a act, yet there are some who truly worship God Almighty. Jim challenged us to be real. If we really understood where we would be without God's grace then we would unashamedly worship the only one who is worthy of our praise... Jesus.

It's been disappointing to see the lack of attendance each night. Some say they desire revival and want to know Him more, yet they sit at home instead of coming and experiencing God's presence and power. This has been a challenge to me. If I truly desire to know the Lord more then I will do whatever it takes to get closer to him.... I will spend time in his word, I will talk to him more frequently, I will whole heartedly attend church services knowing that it isn't a duty but a privilege. So I challenge you today to be real. Don't put on an act. Understand the price that Christ paid for you willingly and begin to truly worship the worthy One!

Happy Birthday, Maggie!

Today my sweet, favorite, oldest niece turns 4! It's hard to believe that she was once my little moosh-moosh and now she is a very smart, beautiful big girl. Having a conversation with her now is like talking to an adult....literally. There is no one else I'd rather share my silly school songs with or paint nails with. I remember the night Julie and Jeff told us they were going to have a baby. We were so excited! We had no idea just how much fun, laughter and joy Maggie would bring! (We def. love the Lils too, but this is Maggie's day!) So to my very sweet, favorite, oldest niece.... we love you so much! We can't wait to see what God has in store for you! We are thrilled to be apart of your life and look forward to watching you grow! You may be a big girl now, but you were definitely the first baby to steal our hearts! We love being your aunt and uncle!

gold star goes to me!

Hallelujah! After hours of trying to figure out why my blog would not allow you to post comments, I figured it out! And by "I figured it out," I mean that I stumbled across the right thing and it gave very clear instructions on how to fix it! I surprisingly did this without any help from my very own computer genius husband! So the gold star goes to me!

Thanks Rachel

Summer is so close I can taste it! Well... it's more like I hear it. My kids for some reason today thought they were already on summer break because their normal "rule following" behaviors were replaced with outside voices whether we were inside or outside, they whined, some cried, yelled, stole toys, tattled and the moral of this story.... they drove Mrs. Jerkins CRAZY! Now don't get me wrong.... I do have some good kids who I never have issues with, but most of them were in rare form today. This brings me to why I titled my post "Thanks Rachel." Today Rachel posted about a little game that she and her friends play when they're having a bad day. This game reminds them that despite the not so good circumstances they really do have a lot to be happy about and thankful for. The result of this oh so simple game helps turn bad days into much better, brighter days. Her game is called "I' m happy because..." So thanks to Rachel, I will not focus on the fact that I was sneezed on, coughed on, blown on (yes, you heard me right) touched by a million different little fingers, in the midst of the swine flu. (I'm really not one of those freaking about this thing.) I will not focus on the fact that I tie a million different dirty shoe laces, hold a million different germy hands, listen to a million different tattles and whines.... no sirree.... I, thanks to Rachel, will simply be happy because there are only 3 weeks of school left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*For some reason we're having issues here allowing people to comment on a post. We're working on it so don't give up... keep trying. If you have any brilliant ideas on how to fix this then message me on facebook!