Soooo....

Last Sunday I ran into Grayson Campbell (notice how his name is double compound words) in Applebee's! Grayson is the boy on the far right. (By the way, 2 years ago when I taught first grade, I only had 3 boys in my class of 14. Jack, RJ, and Grayson. The 2 books on the chalkboard ledge are Junie B. books (we read all the books in my class). The cool thing is that Junie B. got glasses when she was in first grade. And guess what?! So did GRAYSON! And..RJ!)

It was great to see Grayson...and his mom, Joy. Well guess what?! This Sunday, I saw them again, but this time at the Roadhouse! I thought it was about time that I tell you all about Grayson and Joy (and maybe I'll tell you about Daryl, Joy's husband...maybe...he likes to make fun of me, so we'll see if I have anything nice to say about him).

I remember the first time I met Joy. I was working in my brand new first grade classroom trying to get it set up for the beginning of the year. I hadn't really met anyone at Riverside Christian Academy and Joy came up to my classroom door and said, "Hey, I'm Joy, I've been praying for you all summer!" I was amazed! Soon I discovered that she had been praying for her son's to-be-teacher all summer...and she just happened to be me :-)! We became fast friends and I enjoyed running over to her classroom (she taught kindergarten) to tell her about the funny and sweet things Grayson would say and do during the day (for instance, when I was teaching the kids about compound words, Grayson got so excited that both his first and last names were compound words!). I also loved recess time because the whole school (it wasn't very big) took recess/snack time at the same time which afforded the time to sit and chat with Joy!

Oh how I loved having Grayson in my class...who was only the sweetest little boy I'd ever met! One day he came to me and said that he had a new song to teach the class during our Bible time. He came to the front of the room and taught us..."Nothing But the Blood". This song became the theme song of the first grade (along with the newer, scandalous version of "Jesus Loves Me"). Grayson gave the biggest and bestest hugs EVER! And he would giggle all the time! One big accomplishment that Grayson achieved was being able to jump up on the big yellow tunnel on the playground. I will never forget the day he made it all the way on top and...stayed (without sliding off). He even invited me to his Spiderman birthday party!

Then there was the "home visit". The pastor wanted us to visit each of the homes of our students. This struck me as annoying at first, but I actually think it was the coolest requirement ever! Grayson's home visit was quite the adventure! Imagine this: a 6 year old driving ME on the back of a 4-wheeler in the woods of Palm Bay. I was scared to death! I was clinging to him for dear life! He even tried to fish tail and I had to yell at him. Of course we ate pizza and played with Legos. A great night.

But guess what? Grayson loved to read (and I suspect and hope he still loves). When I used to work at Barnes and Noble I could count on him to visit me! Sometimes he'd even wear his hair spiked up (which was just the coolest hair cut...EVER!) Sadly, since I've stopped working at B&N, I haven't seen him all that much. But, I think of him, and his mom, often. Grayson makes me miss teaching the first grade! Joy makes me miss teaching at Riverside.

why my life is good today

1. A sweet boy in 3rd period said, "Miss Mix, I like those earrings!" (if you read yesterday's post, they are the very ones I got this weekend...pretty yellow flowers)
2. Sandra McCracken's cd arrived, at long last, yesterday and it hasn't left my cd player since.
3. In a matter of moments Jed will begin IMing me some songs ("Oh how I love technology...")
4. Meg agrees with my raving review of Garden State (finally...someone!) www.heavenlydevice.blogspot.com
5. I've been added to the "Daily Reads" of a very funny blogger, Colby. I'd add his blog to my daily reads if ever I could figure out how to create something like it. But, for now, pretend this link lives on my sidebar. www.colbycheese.blogspot.com
6. I had a little fruit cup today in my lunch and it made me feel like a kid in elementary school, which made me happy.
7. Bible study is cancelled tonight because impending Hurricane Frances has set Brevard County in a panicked (is that spelled properly) frenzy. Another hurricane?! On the heels of Charley?! Is this fair?! However, this evening will be spent grading essays, paragraphs, tests, and doing laundry.

That's all for the moment. Joy, if you're reading this...stay tuned. A very special post is forthcoming! :)

LIVE AND IN CONCERT

Yesterday was great. I met Sharon at the City Place Anthropologie (remember, this is my favorite store) in West Palm Beach. So, my big purchase on this Anthropologie trip was: a pair of yellow flower earrings! This brings my earring collection up to a grand total of...3 pairs (a pair of pearls I got for college graduation, the purply flowers one I wear all the time which I picked up at Target, and now...the prettiest yellow flowered earrings you ever did see!). We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which I hadn't been to since I left Miami. It brought back so many memories! Sometimes it's fun to stroll down memory lane. Then...we headed to Palm Beach Atlantic University's Chapel by the Lake for a Caedmon's Call Concert. We arrived at this outdoor venue at 6 pm. The concert was to start at 7 pm, but it was delayed because of the afternoon rain. However, we made it to the front row (right in the center might I add) just in time to watch Garrett set up his drums and take a picture with Cliff.

So, here's a nice little picture of the band a few years back. This was before Derek parted ways and before Andy O. (Andrew Osegna, formally of The Normals) joined forces. Notice Derek (2nd from the right) smiling and looking happy to be wearing matching jump suits and flip flops. Garrett is the one growling like some sort of animal in the front row. And Cliff is peeping his un-covered head from the back row (he usually wears a baseball cap). However, Cliff and Garrett were both sporting buzz cuts last night (ala Derek).



The concert was amazing. It was outside right on the intercoastal and the moon was beautiful and full! I got a few great pictures of Danielle (my hero, who is the only girl pictured above and married to Cliff) singing and the full moon right behind her. I hope they turn out good! Oh, guess what other picture I got: Cliff and me! He was wearing a shirt that said THE MIX. So, naturally, I had to go and tell him that that was my last name and then take my picture with him :)!

They sang some oldies and a killer cover of Paul Simon's "Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes". Also, they have a new album coming out October 12, "Share the Well". They played a couple of tracks from the new CD. Both were great, especially "Mother India".

Before the concert, I was wondering how it'd be without Derek in the group. I had seen them once before since Derek departed, and I was still bitter about the split. However, it was awesome this time around. I think that Andy O. really is a great addition to the group! Truly it was a great show!

CAEDMON'S NOW

Seriously, that is the exact same shirt that Garrett wore last night (in case there's confusion as to who the hot one in the group would be, he's the one standing to the left of Danielle with the white shirt on)! He's definitley the hot one in the group now...and the only single one (well, except for Josh Moore, the one standing on the far right, but he's like 20 and mildly annoying). Aren't we glad that Caedmon's Call stopped dressing alike for press photos?

"You gotta hear this one song...

it'll change your life I promise!"

That quote is from Garden State. I just got back from Best Buy where I purchased the CD. I was kind of feeling guilty for spending money needlessly, but in the end, I justified my purchase with, "I feel sorry for myself because I don't have Sandra McCracken's new CD yet." I was also feeling guilty about purchasing the CD because my desire for it crept up on me suddenly. It's not like I've wanted it for months, like Relient K's cd The Anatomy of Tongue and Cheek. Anyway, I bought it, it's playing on my computer now as I write this entry. So far we're on track 11 of 13 and I love every song. It's very rare that I like every song on a CD. Even on a Caedmon's Call or a Derek CD, there's usually that one song that I skip.

So, I love that quote: Natalie says it to Zack as they're sitting in a doctor's office waiting room. She's referring to a song by The Shins, who I had never heard of, but I'm glad to have two of their songs on the soundtrack. Now, I'm trying to think of what songs I would say, "You gotta hear this one song, it'll change your life I promise," about. Here's what I'm quickly coming up with:

I Boast No More -- Derek Webb (words by Isaac Watts)
Awake My Soul -- Sandra McCracken
Emotionally Yours or Heart of Mine -- Bob Dylan
The High Countries -- Caedmon's Call
Bad -- U2
If These Old Walls Could Speak -- Amy Grant
24 -- Switchfoot
From End to End -- Relient K
Ice Ice Baby -- Vanilla Ice (please understand: I like to joke)
The Great Adventure -- Steven Curtis Chapman (again, I like to joke)


I selected the above songs by asking myself this question: "If I was trying to get someone to fall in love with a particular artist based on hearing one song, which song would I play for him/her?"

There's a popular survey circulating on the blogs I visit about "The Soundtrack of My Life." Sadly, that is the exact title of something I've been writing (don't you hate it when you realize whatever great I idea you thought you came up with on your own totally isn't original?). I've been thinking about it for quite some time and have nearly compiled my list. So, stay tuned :).

Happy Saturday!

PS: I'm going to see Caedmon's Call tomorrow...for FREE

let go

Sadly, I haven't heard any raving reviews about Garden State from people I know. That doesn't surprise me though. Not many of you out there consider Peter to be pure magic, but I still love it. I've decided that I want to get the soundtrack and was thrilled to see on the cover of the CD one of my favorite scenes from the movie. It's pictured below. Tell me it wouldn't be fun to stand on top of a bulldozer in the pouring rain, donning a garbage bag, on the edge of a ravine, and scream! (Maybe that isn't a bulldozer. But, it's big and yellow.) I still say, "Go see Garden State."

after midnight

Ok, it's after midnight:

Just in from a football game (more about the game, maybe, tomorrow)

Just found out that the Sandra McCracken CD that was released on Tuesday (although, you couldn't buy it anywhere) was shipped

Just ate a piece of apple pie and want another one

Just wanted to post something

Just happy that I can sleep in tomorrow

Good night.

being speechless and school violence

I really love words! I love writing them, listening to them, reading them...so you can imagine my frustration when I can think of them. I find it particularly frustrating when I can't think of just the right words for something or someone. (For instance, sometimes I feel like Meg Ryan's character in You've Got Mail when she can't think of zingers in the heat of battle to wound Tom Hanks...although, that's not a very nice example, is it? But, it's true.) I also hate it when I am trying to put something into words, I do it, and then read it and realize it's nothing at all what I meant. Hmmmm. Frustration...another one of life's not so great feelings (definitely to be filed with disappointment). Maybe this is one reason why I love music so much. For when I am so incredibly speechless, some song will completley and beautifully articulate exactly what it is that I cannot. What about those times when I just can't think of anything to say to someone who's unbelievably hurt or upset me? Again, frustration...but on many levels! I just hate that.

Moving on... I covet all of your prayers for me, my students, and Palm Bay High School. Every day something happens that completely tugs at my heart and serves as confirmation that God is using me in the classroom. Thankfully, it's usually something quite small: an extremely thankful student whose schedule I've helped changed (if they try to change their schedules on their own, they have to wait for a guidance appointment which is usually a 1-2 week wait), a former student (often the bane of my existence last year) running by my room inbtween classes to high five me, or one of my ESOL (students whose primary language is not English) students smiling so big when I say, "Tenga un buen dia," as they leave (Have a good day!). Sometimes though, it's something far bigger than a thankful student that makes me realize how truly important teaching is. Take a look at the following incidents this week alone at Palm Bay High School.

This week at Palm Bay High:
1. The volleyball game fight was between a former student and current student of mine. Disappointing.
2. I have a student who punched a teacher, breaking his nose and knocking out several teeth
3. One student wrote "poop" on his forehead in permanent marker for class pictures today. The yearbook people were irate and did not let him take his picture. I don't think he cared. He just wanted attention.
4. A most disturbing rumor has apparently been confirmed by another teacher: some kid was stabbed three times today after school while still on campus.

up late on a school night

Tonight was Parent Open House. Out of 150 students (I actually have exactly 150 students), 30 showed up (well, 30 students were represented -- some kids actually had both parents there). Here's the joke that I told tonight:

How come the ghost won the beauty pageant?
(because she was booo-tiful)

Now, here's the joke that Ryan came up with after I told him tonight's joke:

How come the ghost was high sought after to appear in the Destiny's Child video?
(because she was boooo-tilicious)

Ryan, you win again...but you don't score many points with the Psycho joke, sorry.

Tomorrow is picture day. I hated picture day as a student, but I couldn't care less about picture day as a teacher! Funny how things shift around. I actually don't have much to say, but just thought I'd continue on my blog roll with my daily posts. Now, at 11:10 pm, I should go to bed. Too bad tomorrow isn't Friday.

What's that? You want another joke? Ok, but this borders on gross...

What's a cannibal's favorite game?
(swallow the leader)

Peace out, my peeps.

volleyball skillzzz

Hey guys. For those of you who're interested, here's a recap of the big day's volleyball game:

2:00 pm -- my sub comes to relieve me, good ole' Mr. K (the orchestra teacher)
2:10 pm -- I've changed into my "gym clothes" and return to my classroom to drop off my "school clothes". My students are surprisingly supportive and I was sent to the gym with good luck wishes.
2:15 pm -- 10 minutes before the gym is to get PACKED. A sweet, sweet student of mine, Akaila, comes over to teach me a few things. I learned how to set, bump, and serve the ball (she wasn't playing, she was a line judge). I practiced for about 10 minutes or so.
2:25 pm -- the gym fills up QUICKLY. Whoa...the adrenaline is RUSHING. And guess what!? Nick, the teacher who dragged me into this mess in the first place...is...a...no show??!! Oh my goodness...we were in it together. Still, I can't believe he stood me up like he did.
2:30 -- the game begins! The faculty had 7 players playing, so I took turns going in and out with another player. I played the back (which meant I had to serve), and she played the net (which meant she was the one who had to worrry about getting hit in the face with the ball).
2:30 -- 3:05 pm -- Every single one of my serves made it in, save for one. I was totally on a roll. Sure, I was the only one who couldn't (and didn't even attempt to) serve the ball overhead, but that's ok. However, I didn't do too well when the ball came to me. I ran away from a few fast ones and the ones that I braved, I usually missed (but, I went down swinging). The few that I made contact with either: hit the HIGE ceiling, went into the crowd, or didn't get much height at all.
3:05 pm -- a huge fight broke out in the stands. Mass chaos ensued. The game ended.

The highlight: 3 of my boy students screamed out MISS MIX. So, I looked up into the stands and they had taken masking tape and spelled out on their shirts: M - I - X. However, they were standing in reverse order, so it read X - I - M. Anyway, I smiled!!!

The faculty did win the first game (but with no help from fumbling Mix). We were tied for the second game before the fight broke out. So there you have it. Alisa Beth Mix played volleyball. Amazing, yes, I know.

hey hey, can you hear anything I say...

I've had the newest Relient K cd since, oh about, late April. I love it, it's awesome, but I mainly listen to tracks 1 through 6 and 9 and 10 ('cause you're my dream, please come true!). By the time track 14 rolls around, I'm not listening with my full attention. The moment that I heard track 14 for the first time I was in Nashville driving around, aimlessly I might add, trying to find Belmont University. When I'm lost, or when it's dark, music kind of bothers me because I can't concentrate. So, when I realized I had no idea where I was, I focused in on the song that was playing and decided that I needed to turn the music down. "From End to End" was playing (man, Relient K carried me on so much of my road trip) and all of a sudden, I heard the lyrics and was like, "What was that? This is an amazing song. I can't turn the music down...I must listen closely." Well, I spun that sucker on repeat for hours...no lie. Yesterday I listened to "From End to End" about 6 or 7 times (as I was dusting my camel collection...again, no lie). It's such a worthy song...that it gets a post.

Have you ever felt like this? Have you ever felt like screaming these lyrics? (ok, maybe not screaming, but definitely saying these words in an excited manner) I could say so much about what these lyrics make me feel...but, I'll just let you read them and maybe you'll connect to them, too.

...hey hey, can you hear anything i say
i'm feeling unwanted, that's not what i wanted
and attention to me is something you refuse to pay

cause i just can't believe the way that this
continues to go on
i say i wish you didn't always think i'm wrong

so tell me
tell me what will it take to get this through your head
and tell me what will it take
until you see things through from end to end...

...hey hey, can you hear anything i say
you search for the short-cut, you live life but for what
i love you and hope you will find the truth some day

cause i just can't believe the way that this
continues to go on
i say i wish you didn't always think i'm wrong

so tell me
tell me what will it take to get this through your head
and tell me what will it take
until you see things through from end to end...

(I've left quite a bit of the lyrics out...you should go and read them if you want to: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/relientk/fromendtoend.html)

Man, I love this song. It's the song that comes to mind when my heart is so heavily laden with the burden of those who I care so deeply for...and they just don't get it.

10 things I wish I had...

(in no particular order)
1. Derek and Sandra's phone number (so that I could invite them over for dinner)
2. curly hair
3. a better vocabulary (like Matt's)
4. Kelly in my class
5. unlimited FREE air travel on Delta (they're the only airline to fly from Melbourne)
6. a super power of some sort (reading peoples' minds would be nice, invisibility, invincibility...whatever)
7. more self discipline
8. a sister
9. something published
10. volleyball skills (which I need for tomorrow)

(things that I avoided listing because I'll get them in due time...I just need to be patient: Sandra's new CD, pink mascara, and sunshine converse in my size...darn the warehouse that's out of my shoes!)

The above was a hilarious exercise I did with a couple of my classes today. Some responses were: a theme song, a suck-up, Miss Mix's red boots (thank you very much), Miss Mix's shoes (I was wearing my saddle shoes today...again, thank you very much), Japan, a lifetime supply of Reese's Peanutbutter Cups...and so much more.

Number 10, volleyball skills, is something I'm really coveting right now. Tomorrow I will be playing in the faculty vs. student volleyball game. I don't have an ounce of athleticism in my body...sadly. But, I am able to provide comic relief. I'll be sure to fill everyone in on tomorrow's volleyball extravaganza.

Peace out.

you won't be seeing this action out of me 

Here's the Bat Building (Bell South building) from Nashville.  

oh my gosh!!

Ok. You know how much I adore Sandra McCracken and Derek Webb!!?? Well...guess what?! Through a derek messageboard, I found this:

http://lasvegas.cox.net/cci/entertainmentnews/video?_mode=view&_state=maximized&view=broadband&max=true

It's a 1.5 minute video clip of Sandra singing and talking. Derek stars in the clip...and so does their dog, Levi. Also...the BAT BUILDING from Nashville is in the clip two different times! (the bat building is really just the Bell South Building, but I've mentioned the bat building in my talks of Nashvill). Anyway, the discovery of this clip has totally turned the mundane weekend I was having into the best weekend...ever! (well, not really...you know my flippant use of superlatives)

dusting camels

While I was having a very mundane weekend, a few friends of mine had spectacular ones. Philip and Karen celebrated their 5th anniversary, Ryan went to see Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, Jed saw Aretha Franlin in concert, Kelly went to see Napoleon Dynamite and had a nice long-haired visitor drive 30 minutes just to see her, Angel and her boyfriend, Steve, went to the Warped Tour (and, this is hilarious, were probably the oldest ones there!!)...and then there was me. My weekend left much to be desired. (Kristin's was bad too. She couldn't go see Napoleon Dynamite.)

Ok, I did see Garden State...but that's it. I tried to return my sunshine Converse, but my efforts were in vain. I needed either a size or a half size smaller, which they don't have. The sales lady tried to get me to exchange them for another color or even some yellow high-tops. She just didn't understand that the sunshine low-tops are the very shoes that I've been wanting for so long. So, I will have to wait a very long time: the order will be placed on Sept. 1, then when they receive the shoes, they'll notify me. Then, I have to mail my shoes back and wait for them to mail me the new ones. But...it'll be worth it when I finally can put them on and "walk on sunshine"! (Oh boy, I'm quite pleased with that allusion.)

How did I spend my Sunday afternoon?! I dusted my camel collection. (I wish I had a real camel in my collection like this one.)



When I was in England, I began to collect camels picking up:3 clay camels from Spain, a fun plastic camel in a big mall in Spain, a cork camel from Portugal (which is the cork capital of the world...seriously), another clay-ish big-eyed camel in Portugal, a fragile ceramic camel from France, and a ceramic one in a tiny "charity shoppe" (thrift store) in Rye, England (I was there to visit the home of Henry James). Over the last 4 years I have collected (mostly been given as gifts) -- 9 stuffed animal camels, 3 Christmas ornament camels, 29 figurines, and lots of post cards with camels. As you can well imagine, 40 camels on a shelf can collect a lot of dust. So, I dusted them today.

Here's a highlight of my camel collection (oh, I wish you all could see it for yourselves):
a big blue stuffed camel -- it's Raggedy Ann and Andy's camel with wrinkly knees (so cute!)
a purple 2 humped stuffed camel -- his name is Honk (he came with that name)
a big floppy soft stuffed camel -- one of my 9th graders last year just came to school with this most special gift for me!!
an olive wood camel from the Holy Land -- ok, I didn't get it in Israel...just the Holy Land Experience theme park in Orlando
a leather camel from Morocco -- a 21st birthday present...not from the country itself, just the Morocco site at EPCOT
a Precious Moments stuffed camel -- a sweet surprise from my friend, Jenny
a package of camel stamps -- quite a find in the postal museum in Paris (oh, how I love the post office!)
a Beanie Baby camel -- another 21st birthday present from 2 of my Greek flatmates in England

However, I dusted them using very handy Pledge Wipes. I love anything that comes in wipe form. I am addicted to Clorox Wipes!! They're so useful. Everyone should have them.

the lambs

When my brother turned 15 years old, Virginia Lamb presented him with a peanutbutter pie. We all kind of thought it was strange that Alias would be gifted with a pie, but there was an explanation. Virginia, Ginnie for short, had taken a peanutbutter pie to a family night potluck dinner one Tuesday night. Alias had eaten a piece and apparently loved it. Ginnie remembered and when his birthday rolled around, she made him one. We didn't even know the Lambs, but we soon would come to know them well.

The following year we were invited to their house for a Labor Day Luncheon. I still remember what I was wearing that day (bright blue shorts and a bright blue and white striped t-shirt with 2 teddy bears on it...come on, I had just turned 11). I remember the drive to the Lambs' house. Alias was living with our dad and I had gone over to visit them for the weekend. It had poured that weekend and the streets were flooded. I also remember how Ruth Giddings (who has since passed away) was talking about the coral colored shoes she had ordered from JC Penney's.

The Labor Day picnic was great. We made homemade peanutbutter and I got to play their player piano! Labor Day marks the beginning of our grandparent/granddaughter-esque relationship. We celebrate our anniversary every year. (In a few weeks we'll enjoy our 14th anniversary.)

So, the Lambs are, in essense, my grandparents. They have been to every single orchestra concert of mine (of which I can easily count up at least 20) and award ceremony. Plus, after each concert, they'd take me out to Friendly's for an ice cream sundae (and everyone knows how much I love ice cream). They took me to Disney World for my 12th birthday and surprised me with a trip to Silver Springs (I don't think there was a special occasion for that one...but it was the time I got chased by aggressive peacocks). Once, Don came to my rescue when I was home alone and attempting to do laundry and all of a sudden water burst out from somewhere around the washing machine and was flying everywhere. I've spent weekends staying with them when my mom went out of town. They taught me how to play Mexican dominoes, Chicky Foot, Hand and Foot, and Rumicube. They've picked me up from school when my mom couldn't. They even took me down to UM! I'll never forget Don sitting there building my bookcase in my small dorm room. And, when we determined that the lighting left something to be desired, they disappeared and came back with a brand new hallogen lamp (before they were illegal in the dorms). Ginnie used to make me a special oyster cracker mix and give it to me in cool whip containers. I love that stuff. Also...every Sunday after church, they took us out to lunch.

This Sunday we didn't go out to lunch. Ginnie woke me up with the craziest phone call...EVER. Last night, at 1:00 am, a car ran into their house. Don went immediately outside to see what had happened and discovered 5 police cars that were apparently chasing the SUV that had crashed into their front bedroom. The man who was driving the SUV ran away and the police, with the aid of police dogs and a helicopter, searched until 4:00 am this morning for the runaway man. The police didn't tell Don and Ginnie why they were chasing the man, but they did mention that the other person in the car, a woman, had been kidnapped. (She did not run with the man, and was taken in by the police.) I went by after church to see the damage. Surprisingly, their grass isn't torn up and Don has already boarded the site of entry up. But come on! Isn't that the craziest, most absurd thing you've ever heard? I'm just thankful that they're ok.

be expecting magic

Today I saw a preview for Finding Neverland. It made me cry. I suspect it was the pure magic which brought tears to my eyes. Expect greatness from this movie, mark my words. It'll hit theaters in early October...and you better believe I'll be there.

not to be repetitive, but here's pure magic

Here is is, folks. The original pure magic. Nothing else can be said. Just look at that poster on the right. It just screams magic.

garden state at last

I may not have been able to see Napoleon Dynamite for the fifth time today, but at least Garden State finally came to a theater near me. I've been greatly anticipating the release of this movie for quite some time. It hit select theaters when I was in Nashville and I had hoped to see it while I was there (because I just knew that it would not be playing in Palm Bay or Melbourne). Sadly, though, it wasn't playing in Nashville either.

Anyhow...Zack Braff (the cute and crazy boy from Scrubs) wrote, directed, and starred opposite Natalie Portman in this hard to describe movie. I knew little to nothing about the movie upon entering the theater (and if you know me at all, that's unusual...for I like to know everything, including the ending, of movies before I see them). Here are my thoughts...



Zack and Natalie delivered stellar preformances. I like both actors so much that I would probably say that of them regardless if it was true. But, trust me, they were both good. It wasn't one of those you can see it coming love stories (at least, not in my opinion) and I really liked the development of their whirlwind relationship (the movie takes place over the course of 4 days). It was strangely believable and not one of those, "Oh my goodness, that's too good and perfect to be true, it'd never happen in real life." There were some great shots: when they're in the pool and the pool light is right between them, when Natalie "tap dances" in front of the fire place (I think that one's actually in the previews), and when they're standing atop a bulldozer in the pouring down rain screaming into a canyon. I loved those moments in the movie. (Don't worry, I haven't given anything away.)

another great shot from the movie

This is pure genius...not to be confused with pure magic, but definitely pure genius.

a brother called alias

This morning I got an invitation to take a quiz that Alias, my brother, made up. Well, I accepted his challenge and the results were bad. I scored a 40% (and that was because I had lucky guesses on 2 of the questions). Alias scored a 90% on my quiz (thank you, Alias, for knowing what color my eyes are). I suspect the only reason he missed the question about what instrument I don't play is because it was worded strangely (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, because certainly he should have known I played the cello in an organized orchestra for 10 years of my life!).

Upon taking his 10 question quiz, I realized just how little I know about my brother. I even got semi-simple things like favorite television show and favorite rock band incorrect! I've always considered knowing someone well and being known well by someone the greatest things...ever. How disappointing, though, to realize that I don't even know my only brother; I don't know him well that is. I've always enjoyed reading and filling out those survey things that get sent around on email (and are now posted on blogs). I just love to eat up every little detail about my friends...and sometimes, I like to tell them every little detail about myself. Sadly though, I haven't taken the time to eat up every little detail about my brother...:(.

I've learned 10 new things about Alias today. One of which is kind of impressive, and definitely unique: he's undergone 29 tattooing sessions (something I actually got right...but it was a guess). His favorite television show is The Shield (not The West Wing) and his favorite rock band is Disturbed (not Creed). However, in my defense, at one time The West Wing and Creed were his favorites.

Here are things I do know about Alias: his eyes are way bluer than mine, he likes caramel (just like his sister), he enjoys our mom's quiche, he used to wear those really high tube socks with stripes on the tops, he doesn't like sour cream or tomatoes, he hated playing Trivia Adventure with me, he'll always win at Monopoly, he's way better at Super Mario Brothers (and all other video games for that matter) than I am, he is passionate about things (BMX, Scouts, Navy, music), he loves Rottweilers, he used to be the best undiscovered rapper, animals like him and will choose to sit in his lap before they'll sit in mine, he can be funny (but, not as funny as me!), his teeth are strangely straight without the help of an orthodontist, and he sunburns easily.



Here we are, brother and sister, 5 years and some worlds apart, but still brother and sister! And, with time, I'll eat up every detail about him and I'll pass the next quiz.
[fyi: this photo is over 3 years old...taken in front of Hotel Del in San Diego...we need an updated back to back brother/sister shot :-)]

bebo's trying hard

What??!! bebo...what's wrong with you? What was mr. norman thinking when he posed for this album cover? I am glad to see he shed the near-mullet, leather jacket, and beanie from his last project entitled: myself when i am real. By the way, what was that title all about?! Ok, bebo's got mad skillz when it comes to playing the guitar. Whew! He makes my heart stop when he plays...however, what is going on?! try is his newest album due out next tuesday, along with sandra's (scroll down to see my tribute to ms. mccracken). there are only 9 tracks on the cd and it's called try. again, I ask you, what is up with that?! just look at him thoughtfully looking upwards silently pleading with all his single women christian fan base, "Hey, ya'll, I know I told ya'll that I wasn't very good at relationships...but, I learned something. If you just TRY, it might work. So, ya'll, I'm sorry that I got married, but I hope you'll still buy my record. Thanks, ya'll." I hate to admit it, but I'll probably be picking up TRY when I go next Tuesday to get...BEST LAID PLANS. I'm a loser, I know.

something I can't quite comprehend...

how did he get so smart?

waiting for a great cd

only 5 more days until the lovely and talented mrs. webb (otherwise known as sandra mccracken) drops her newest album. and, for those of you who took my quiz...yes, derek and sandra totally are on the top of my dinner guests wish list! I love sandra and would consider being her if it was possible.

I love my brother and sister-in-law

I love you Alias and Denise!! It's kind of retarded of me to post an entry confessing my love for my brother and sister-in-law right after a lovely package arrived on my doorstep today (so forgive me A&D for waiting until I get a gift to write about you). Alias and Denise totally surprised the HECK out of me when a pair of Sunshine Converse arrived in the mail. Can you believe it?! I just got off the phone with my brother and I was saying, "Man, I'm completely surprised and overwhelmed! I can't believe you got me JUST the shoes that I've been lusting after for so long!" And Alias said, "Come on, you write about them all the time!" (Which was completely heartwarming of me to hear because that means that he and Denise both read my blog! It makes me very happy when I know that people read my blog...especially people who I want to read my blog like my brother and sister-in-law.) Well, I am super super excited! I got me some phat kicks! Are there any happier shoes than Sunshine Converse? I don't think so! Well, allow me to brag on my brother and sister-in-law (although some of the things I am fixing to list are pre-Denise...but that's ok). They've given me some pretty awesome things:
Alias Season 1
Alias Season 2 -- which Karen and Philip are totally benefiting from, too!
2 very rare CDs (both incapable of securing now) -- Bebo Norman and Shane Everett
a metal finger that was used to open soda cans (something I could never do on my own as a kid...I remember Alias bought it for me in the mall once, I was like 7 or 8, and I thought it was the coolest thing...EVER)
a Franklin Spelling Ace (a thesaurus, dictionary, and word game electronic pocket device that I used and played with every single day of the 9th and 10th grade!)
Thumper (the stuffed animal...Alias and Denise took my mom and me to Disney World my senior year of high school and Alias said I could pick out a souvenir...I chose Thumper)
fancy Barbie plates
an Aubu Dabi (that's probably not how it's spelled) Hard Rock Cafe shirt
and now...the happiest shoes in the world.

It's an indescribable feeling when someone does something so nice and unexpected for you! Thanks you guys for a truly amazing and overwhelming surprise!

i'll quiz ya!

so, kelly sent me a link to take a quiz that she made (which I scored a whopping 100!!!). I thought it was a neat-o idea, and created one for myself (and sent the link to several of you already). however, if I didn't send you the link and you visit my blog, go ahead and take the 10 question quiz (if you're a regular reader, you'll totally get most of the questions right anyway!). don't worry, I won't be offended if you don't get many right...however, if I've known you for SEVEN FREAKING YEARS and you don't know the color of my eyes...then I HATE YOU! (well, not really, but you get the idea). so, let's see if I can post a link...

http://www02.quizyourfriends.com/takequiz.php?quizname=040818204133-Do~p20you~p20know~p20me~p3F~p3F&c=1&a=08

more random things

First things first. I had a bit of a blog scare today...something ATE it! I'm not the greatest with computers and who knows what I did...but my blog was...GONE. However, since I'm able to write this and you're able to read this, obviously my blog came back. All is right in my world thanks to Mr. Jed Brewer! He's my hero today! He went out into cyberland, found my blog, and returned her safely home to me. Thanks, Jed! You're the smartest boy...EVER!

Second things second. Why in the world was Oprah allowed to be on the jury of a murder case...or any case for that matter? What the HECK were those lawyers thinking who allowed her to stay, and actually CHOSE her? Some things do not make sense! Another thing that is freaking ridiculous is when I heard John Kerry tell some interviewer on MTV, "Rap music is fascinating. I love hip hop!" What the...? For those of you who don't know, I don't like Oprah. Ok, she's mega rich and uses her powers for good (mostly) by giving out money to people and stuff. But come on! Just because she's a talk show host doesn't give make her THE authority on EVERYTHING in the ENTIRE world! I don't like the Oprah Worship that goes on. Worship someone like...Derek, Sandra, Bob...or, one could always turn towards worshipping GOD!

Third things third. There are 823 freshmen this year at Palm Bay High School. Does anyone consider this to be CRAZY?! That's the size of an entire high school! We're at 2,600 students this year. Whew! Class meetings are tomorrow and I'm glad I get to hide out in my classroom and read stories all day instead of dealing with 823 kids in the auditorium.

Fourth things fourth. Taking naps in the late afternoon into the early evening is one of the greatest things...EVER! Naps are even sweeter when there's rain sofly falling!

Fifth things fifth. Last night I saw previews of the new fall seasons of Gilmore Girls and One Tree Hill. Chad Michael Murray got a hair cut. That's the big news. What's the deal with Rory Gilmore? She's turned into a bit of a ... well ... I don't want to say it here on my nice, little blog.

Sixth things sixth. How did Ken from Jeopardy get to be so smart?! I wish I was like a tenth as smart as he is. Oh well...a girl can dream.

random things that happened today

1. A student made fun of my shoes. He whispered to another student, "Miss Mix is wearing bowling shoes." I have good ears so of course I heard him. I quickly responded with, "They're saddle shoes!" So he said, "Ok, you're wearing fancy bowling shoes."

2. This evening I ran into a student and her dad in Publix. (She was my student last year and I miss her terribly this year. We both are deathly afraid of squirrels because of close encounters.) I got to meet her dad, who had great things to say to me about how he appreciated me teaching his daughter. Then, she said, "Hey, you're wearing saddle oxfords!" (Sweet justice! One student makes fun, another makes my day by noticing my shoes for what they are.)

3. A student made me a nice CD, to which I thanked her by drawing her a picture. If you're interested in seeing my mad drawing skillz (oh yes, I have talent), you can visit her livejournal because she scanned the picture in there. http://www.livejournal.com/users/i_want_your_x/

4. A student of mine showed up to my class wearing a bright yellow shirt (because she was in dress code violation and had to change her shirt) and it instantly brought the day's writing response to mind: Make a list of yellow things. It proved to be a GREAT writing response. And boy, oh boy, my students are CREATIVE! Great fun. [some responses were: the bag for peanut M&Ms, the YELLOW SUBMARINE (pure genius, I'm telling you), school buses, yield signs, number 2 pencils...just to name a few]

5. My online attendance, email, and internet were not working in my classroom, so I reported it. Mr. AV came up to fix it and in front of my entire class said, "Well, all you needed to do was restart the machine!" So, I felt dumb. Oh well.

Dinner is ready so there is no more time to talk about things that happened today.

oreos for breakfast

Question of the day: What would life be like without Oreos?

So, I recently told Kelly (proudly, I might add) that while in college, I ate an entire bag of Oreos in one sitting. Wide eyed, she responded with, "Did your boyfriend break up with you?" I stared back at her thinking, "Why? Because I ate an entire bag of Oreos and probably gained a few pounds because of my indulgence?" So I asked, "Why did you say that?" And she, matter of factly, responded with, "Because, WHY ELSE WOULD YOU EAT AN ENTIRE BAG OF OREOS?" Ha, what a funny girl! I had a simple explanation, "Because I lack self control when it comes to Oreos." And then Kelly, always saying something smartly funny, said, "I bet you could have used that gallon of milk then, huh?" (Mostly everyone knows the story about me trying to drink a gallon of milk in an hour...if not, now you know the short version.)

I've paced myself with the Oreos this time around. The bag was opened yesterday afternoon and this morning, there are...(hold on while I count the remaining delicious cookies...7 left. The hurricane has come and gone and for all of you who were really worried about me (just kidding), no need. Melbourne survived. On with the rest of my Saturday...

some things I hate

It's almost 8:30 and we've had worse thunderstorms in the last week than the rain we've had today. However, the sky is scary and the bamboo in the backyard is unnaturally bent by the wind. I stood on the back porch about two hours ago and thought, "Ha, we're in the middle of a hurricane!" However, I don't mean to make light of an impending disaster.

So, I hate this stupid, freaking computer! (sorry for the colorful language) I've absolutely HAD it with this dumb, crappy machine (there I go again with the colorful language). If I told you all the things that were wrong with this machine (for instance, how much memory it's operating on), I would BLOW your mind. I've finally decided that I do not care how much money it will cost, I am ready to take it to Best Buy and get it fully loaded: a generous memory upgrade and virus/firewall protection.

Something else I hate is how large groups of Christians take whatever they hear or read as gospel truth. Take for instance the hugely popular Prayer of Jabez of 3 or 4 summers ago. (Now, I don't mean to copy Derek Webb's rantings on the subject; believe me when I tell you that the whole thing annoyed me 3 or 4 years ago.) Basically, Bible studies and pastors everywhere were telling the masses, "Hey, pray this short, obscure Old Testament prayer, sit back, and watch the blessings roll your way." What the heck?! The crazy thing is, people bought it hook, line, and sinker. How about the whole modern worship and mega-church movement (if that's what it's called)? Where everyone gets to come and make their huge, concourse labeled church, "the compound", their entire life! These churches have courtyards, and bookstores, and cafeterias, and coffee bars, and 5 different worship bands, and a media booth where you can buy any service on tape, CD, or DVD. There are 100 small group Bible studies and "home fellowships" and a ministry for every kind of thing under the sun: haircutters, unemployed men, over 50's, to name a few. People flock to these churches (and currently, I go to one...so does this make me a hypocrit?) and they sit in church where the pastor might have some insightful things to say but the masses can't, or don't want to, take the time to sort through everything and leave the junk. Junk like, "Hey, if you were baptized as an infant, IT WAS NO GOOD!" They think, "Hey, if pastor so and so said it, awesome!" Then, they go to all their small group Bible studies and repeat the stupid stuff that is wrong.

And then there's Joshua Harris's whole I Kissed Dating Goodbye movement where the trendy thing was not to kiss your husband/wife until you were pronounced as such on your wedding day. I need to tread lightly here because 2 sets of very dear friends practiced this and each of their courtship stories are very beautiful. However, just because Joshua Harris wrote it and just about everyone involved in InterVarsity read it, doesn't mean that Christians everywhere have to do this. I don't get it! I plan on kissing whoever I marry before we stand up at the alter (and I don't think that my marriage will be any less blessed by God).

Today, Jed and I were making fun of messageboards and lame single groups and he sent me this article from Christianity Today. OH MY GOODNESS! After reading it, I was prompted to write this blog (and it's completely toned down from what I originally had to say). Basically, there was this guy at some singles convention who was spewing forth crap about how if you're single and you're in your 20's, then you're straight up a sinner. He was saying, why on earth delay getting married? In fact, he was encouraging young people to marry as early as 17 or 18. What the heck?! He said that he was thrilled when his sons popped the question to their respective wives because that moment marked the true beginning of their lives! What?! Also, he was saying that one cannot fully enter into adulthood until one experiences marriage. Ok, what?! And the sad thing is, there were probably loads of people at that convention who thought, "RIGHT ON! LET'S GET MARRIED!" (Hmmm...not to say that marriage is wrong, I greatly anticipate being married one day. However, I am no less of a person, and I'm not living any less of a life, than my friends who have already gotten married.)

If anyone wants to read this article, by all means visit, and here's just a taste to tempt you to read:
"I'm going to speak of the sin I think besets this generation. It is the sin of delaying marriage as a lifestyle option among those who intend someday to get married, but they just haven't yet. This is a problem shared by men and women, but it's a problem primarily of men."

http://www.christianitytoday.com/singles/newsletter/mind40811.html

Friday the 13th

Maybe the school board is feeling dumb right now. It's almost 2 pm (school would have gotten out in another hour) and the sun is out and nothing is blowin' in the wind. Oh well. The Hurricane Day afforded me the opportunities to: 1. sleep in until 9:30 (usually sleeping in means 7:30 to me), 2. call Asbury and ask them why the computer won't let me apply online (and, the admissions guy figured it out. It had me blocked out because I applied 4 years ago, so they reset my file and the application process is underway again!) and 3. watch Dawson's Creek. The episode of Dawson's that I was able to watch was simply awesome. Here are the reasons why:

1. It was from Season 1
2. It was way before Dawson knew that Joey liked him, so it was painful to watch Joey pine for Dawson (but hello, that was the entire fun of the show...which is also why I loved Felicity...poor Felicity pining after stupid idiot Ben...she SO should have ended up with NOEL!)
3. The episode took place on Friday the 13th in the show...I think the network planned it that way
4. NOEL (from Felicity...his real name being Scott Foley) had a HUGE guest spot in this epsiode (as Jen's rebound boy, Clifford).
5. Saffie curled up next to me on my bed while I watched it! Yay for sweet cats.

Even though Charley stole my fries, he's letting me watch Passions (which begins in about 10 minutes). I'll probably become bored with it after about 15 minutes (ever since college, I can't stand to watch more than 15 minutes of this CRAP soap opera, but it makes me feel close to Sharon just to turn it on. You know what I mean? If I listen to a cd or watch a TV show or movie or read a book that I know one of my friends really likes, then it makes me happy...like s/he is right there with me! So, Sharon, this one's for you!)

charley stole my fries

Ok. So, Heather was right. I was wrong. Charley has officially closed Brevard County Schools. Heather, I'm happy that you were right...I get to sleep in tomorrow and I don't have to worry about grading everyone's name assignments and comic strips tonight! Yay! The only crappy thing is: Charley had to strike on Fry-day. Man! Now I have to wait an entire week to get fries.

i live for fry day

WHAT THE HECK WAS THE SCHOOL BOARD THINKING WHEN THEY SAID THAT THE CAFETERIA WILL ONLY SERVE FRIES ON FRY/FRIDAY!? I am so T-O'ed! You've no idea.

There's mild panic about Charley. I'm not scared. I'm just annoyed that they spelled his name stupidly and we can only buy fries on Friday (something about kids being too obese now a days). Whatever.

first day of school

I wore my saddle shoes yesterday to start my year and was happy to see a student of mine donning awesome shoes as well (K-funk had on hot pink tennis shoes with crazy green kangaroos...I want a pair!). Every single class was awesome! I couldn't believe it! I had this welcome Bingo game for them to play (thank you, Cathi, for the idea) and I kind of thought that they'd think it was dorky...but, they totally got behind it and had a great time! I instructed my classes on the Rules of the Mixmaster's Jokes (you know, the basics: always say, "I don't know", and always smile or laugh!). I began the year with: How much does it cost a pirate to get his ears pierced? (A buck an ear...a 4 year old told me that joke!). They liked my joke so much that I decided to give them another one: What do you call a student at PBHS who skips class? (Captain Hooky...an ABM original...for those of you who don't know, our mascot is the pirate). Today's jokes were Karen Jane material: What kind of car does a belly button piercer drive? (an Audi) and Where does a belly button piercer go to school? (the Naval Academy). Thank you, Karen! So...as I was saying, all my classes were great! My kids were really responsive and I kind of like the fact that all 5 classes have 30-32 kids! The more, the merrier! I'll be sad to lose some of them (they're in the process of balancing classes now). I wasn't too wild about having B lunch and 5th pd. planning this year (changing from D lunch and 4th pd. planning from last year...which is the best combo because then you get an hour and a half straight). However, I love my new schedule now! It's amazing how things like that work out so brilliantly. After school, my mom and I met Emily Sue, Evan, and their mom at Moo's for ice cream. Yesterday was her first day in the third grade...and her first day in public school! (She's happy she gets to wear regular clothes! Funny how that works, because when I was in school, I always wanted to go to a private school so that I could wear a plaid skirt uniform!) Then, my mom and I met Gayle at the Roadhouse for a first day of school celebration. It was a nice dinner and story telling time :-)! Then it was off to Bible study, where I wrote the post that is 2 below this one. So, I'm flying high! I'm thankful to have so many repeat students from last year and I'm thankful to have some great new ones this year. Also, my class is on K-wing, which is about the middle of the school...so everyone walks by! It's neat to see my old kids and it feels great when they scream up to me from down stairs inbetween classes! Yay! Teaching is fun.

the best second day of school...EVER

What's more fun than watching Napoleon Dynamite? Hanging out with Kelly and quoting the movie all day! Oh my goodness, what an awesomely fantastic day we had today. Kelly, sadly, is not going to return as a Pirate at PBHS and has to go to Indian River High (in Sebastian) this year. Her first day is next Monday, so she came up to PBHS and spent the day as my special visitor in my classroom.

Funny things that happened because Kelly visited me today:
1. Kelly printed out a Pegasus Xing sign and hung it on my door (the very sign that hangs on Napoleon's door)
2. At lunch, Kelly fell down the stairs...only to be followed by me falling up the stairs (we're quite the pair)
3. During planning, we went to visit El Bigote. Fun times.
4. Also during planning, I took her to see the new building and she saw the new cute teachers, too.
5. During 4th period (the out of control class with all the "hot boys"), they made 6 frame comics to demonstrate their understanding of the bare bones of a plot...totally inspired by Kelly, the Awesome Comic Maker (she draws the best comics...EVER).
6. We sang the first verse to "Ice Ice Baby" together and she did the opening to Napoleon's awesome dance.
7. After school, Shane came by for a visit and they both wrote things in masking tape on the chalk board (wasting tape and time) while Kelly and I cracked our tired selves up with one lines from Napoleon ("Why is that?", "Are you serious?", "Be good to me!" Kip is freaking awesome!)
8. We went to Friendly's where we ordered ourselves some "dang quesadil-las" (another Napoleon allusion).
9. We followed our dang quesadil-las up with some tasty Happy Ending sundaes (which ended our happy times perfectly). Cookies and cream with peanutbutter topping. Yum.
10. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, we teamed up and told the daily jokes together! I let her deliver the punchlines!

So, I had the best time with Kelly as my special visitor. Although, she got pretty tired of hearing me teach the same lesson and read the same story three periods in a row! (I'm just glad that I teach two different grades now. Last year I was teaching the same freaking thing 5 times in a row!) I love you, Kelly, mi hermanita! Te estrano mucho! (I only wish you knew what I just said...maybe your second time around in Spanish 1 you'll pick something up!)

Hmmm...I still didn't post about my first day of school. Hhhhhhhhhh (thank you, Napoleon), I'll maybe do that tomorrow.

water and mountains

You have calmed greater waters and higher mountains have come down...

The above are lyrics from a Jars of Clay song that I have heard too many times to count. But I really heard it for the first time as I was driving to Bible study tonight. A lot of things were/are on my mind concerning school, life, the future, the present and those words really got me thinking. [And, they distracted me from Bible study, which I was actually happy for...because sadly, I'm not a big fan of the Bible study I'm going to right now.] So, here's what I was thinking:

So often I'm caught up in my own troubles and situations. While I pray about the concerns of my heart and have faith that all things do work together for the good of those who love Him and I don't doubt God's creativity (for He can see how to work impossible puzzles out), I do find myself struggling with the background fears of, "This situation is too sticky/totally unfair/never going to get better," or, "There's no way any good can come of this." But, ha! God has calmed greater waters than my little pond and has brought down higher mountains than my molehill obstacles. I guess I'm realizing how egocentric I can be. I don't like that. Who would? I often think about my situations, concerns, worries, and problems and how unique they are and way too difficult to handle. But they're not unique nor difficult in the grand scheme of things. They aren't really important. There's nothing new under the sun. I shouldn't be so focused on myself and how I want things worked out for me, selfishly. How humbling to realize that God has indeed calmed greater waters and certainly brought down higher mountains. And as incredibly humbling that realization has been, it's equally comforting. For my God is big enough to hangle anything (even my trivial stuff).

That's all. This is the shortest post in a while. It was the first day of school. And, it was the best first day of school...EVER. I will probably write about it tomorrow.

copy cat me

I saw this profile questionnaire on Meg's blog and thought it was kind of fun...so I brought it on over to mine.

Name: Alisa Beth Mix (different people call me different things, but those closest to me call me Alisa Beth)
Birth date: June 14, 1979
Birthplace: Cape Canaveral Hospital, Cocoa Beach, FL
Current Location: Palm Bay, FL
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: That color that is nearly brown, but it's really not brown
Height: 5'8"
Righty or Lefty: Right, although I went through a phase in elementary school when I ate with my left hand to be cool
Your heritage: English and German
The shoes you wore today: my old grey N shoes (New Balance)
Your weakness: which one? How about procrastination.
Your fears: being attacked by a squirrel or bird, missing an episode of ALIAS
Your perfect pizza: Pizza Gallery's Rembrandt (a white pizza with shrimp and pasta)
Goal you'd like to achieve: I have several that I already mentioned in a previous post.
Your bedtime: 11 pm, give or take
Pepsi or Coke: ever since I toured the Coke Factory, I've pledged my allegiance to it
McDonald's or Burger King: Does Chick-Fil-A count? Hmmm...I like the flame broiled Burger King deal, but McDonald's Happy Meals are fun.
Single or group dates: If it's in a group, then it's really not a date, is it?
Iced Tea or Nestea: What's that? Nasty? (a friend of mine once confused the words Nasty and Nestea...she Asian, it was a hilarious mistake when she kept asking boy visitors, "Hey, do you want some Nasty?")
Chocolate or vanilla: vanilla
Cappuccino or coffee: tea, please...but, if I was going to get a coffee drink, it wouldn't be at the 7-11, sorry Karen.
Get along with your parent(s)? Yes
Like thunderstorms? No, I LOVE thunderstorms.
Play an instrument? Guitar, piano, and cello
Gotten beaten up? By someone other than my older brother? No. But, I was slapped once by a scary girl when I beat her in tetherball.
What country would you most like to visit: I'd rather just stay in this country and visit the Grand Canyon.

And, lastly, favorites:
Food: watermelon, ice cream, potatoes
Magazine(s): ALIAS
TV Show(s): ALIAS, 24
Movie(s): PETER PAN, Napoleon Dynamite, Mansfield Park
Nail polish color: anything pink (even if it's HOT)
Celebrity: well, what kind of celebrity? Actor? I like anyone from ALIAS or 24, especially Michael Vartan (can you get any cuter?!) and Victor Garber (oh yes, I guess you CAN get cuter than Vartan!).
Restaurant: Chick-Fil-A, Applebees (because their fries are so good)
Soap Opera: I'm ashamed to admit it, but Passions and Days of our Lives (however, those are from my college days)

Philip's Best Birthday...EVER!

Happy 27th, Philip!

Today is Philip's 27th birthday and what a fun day it was (hopefully as much fun for him as it was for me!). Here's the recap of my day:

I went to church and began to make fun of someone (I know, it doesn't really fit to make fun of someone in church, does it? Trust me though, it's all in good fun) to which my mom responded, "Here's the new rule: If you're going to make fun of someone, you're going ot have to pray for them." Fair enough.

After church, I went to Ballard Park, which marked my third time at this water front park. The first time I ever went to Ballard Park was 5 years ago, right before Karen and Philip got married. They had a cookout the night before the rehearsal and I came to it right after getting my eyes dilated. I remember Philip making a comment about how they looked like cat eyes. The second time, and last time, I was at Ballard Park was when I taught the first grade. Our first field trip was to the fire station and then we had a picnic at Ballard Park. First grade field trips RULE!

Well, while we waited for everyone else to get there, Marnie (Karen and Philip's cute 4 month old) sat contently in her carrier and looked cute while Philip cooked hot dog like things on the grill. It was the best hot dog...EVER! Turns out that they weren't really hot dogs. Brautwurst? (I don't know how to spell that.) Soon, the crowd began rolling in...just as the clouds were too. The sky actually grew pretty dark and I think Mr. Decker (Karen's dad) was getting excited (he's a meteorologist). Oh yes, the rain came!

Philip and the boys tried playing frisbe (each taking shelter in a different pavillion). However, it didn't work out too well and the frisbe landed on the roof of one pavillion. It didn't take long for the rain to turn into a torrential downpour. Whew! We sang Happy Birthday, had pineapple upside down cake, and then ran everything to the cars (lucky for most that we were wearing bathing suits...we were supposed to go jet skiing).

Back at the Deckers', we settled down for a nice afternoon of cards...after eating some tasteless watermelon (such a disappointment since it's pretty much one of my top three favorite foods). The boys played poker while the girls played only the best card game...EVER! I was new to the game myself and was thankful to learn it's to be played in partners. So, my partner for NERT (I can't even remember if that's the right name for the game, but I think it is) was Myrtle (Karen's mom). Ok, so the best card game EVER turned out to be the worst card game EVER because Myrtle and I were on one phat losing streak. Karen joined in our game and kicked our butts (and she was flying solo...she's just that good).

I was getting pretty irritated mainly due to Amy spitting cherry pits at me (I am not kidding! You wouldn't believe the welts the pits left on my chest! It was only the grossest thing...EVER, but everyone seemed to think it was only the funniest thing...EVER! I got no symapthy.), but also due to the fact that Myrtle and I couldn't catch a break. However, victory tasted so sweet when we yelled NERT 3 times in a row! Oh yes, we were in a groove!

Soon, the rain had passed and it was time for a go on the jet ski. Ok, I wasn't really looking forward to the whole jet skiing adventure because: 1. I don't like to wear a bathing suit, 2. I don't like to be in water that I can't see in, and 3. Things with motors frighten me. However, there's just something about Karen that makes me try things. I have experienced a lot of firsts with her: 1. my first alcoholic beverage (I was 21, don't worry), 2. the lighting of my first match (and I've never lit anything since), 3. my first taste of sushi (and I try to eat it now any chance I get!), 4. my first fishing trip (and my last one...it was cold and my camera fell in the lake), 5. my first taste of Thai food, 6. the first time I ever played the guitar (Karen actually taught me), and 7. my first jet ski ride. There might very well be other firsts, but those are the only ones that immediately pop into my mind.

So, Philip, Karen, and I went out on the jet ski in the Indian River Lagoon (but, this lagoon isn't as magical as the one in The Neverland...no mermaids or Never Birds or pirate ships nearby). I was sandwiched between the K&P, so I was feeling pretty safe! And then it happened. Philip was making a sharp turn and off went Karen, who was soon followed by me and Philip! (I guess his reassuring comment before we embarked upon our jet ski adventure of, "Don't worry, I haven't fallen off today and I've done some crazy stuff," didn't really matter.) While it was a little creepy to be out in the middle of the Indian River Lagoon, it was kind of fun too. It certainly makes for a memorable jet ski experience. And, Philip didn't lose his flip flops, so all was well.

Back at the Decker's, we hung out in the hot tub...which was nice until Amy had to spit cherry pits at me AGAIN, and this time they pelted me right on my cheek! Gross. We went to Frankies Wings & Things for dinner (where I was laughed at for requesting number 1 wings...I have a very low threshold for spice). Philip & others insisted that I was wrong in claiming that Alisa and pizza rhyme. (Strangely, my only ally was Amy...and thankfully, she didn't spit chicken bones at me.) He also insisted that spoil is a one syllable word; I think it is a two syllable word. But, whatever.

That was my day. Again, happy birthday, Philip...one of the funniest guys in all the world (and he's like that all the time). I hope your 27th year is the best...EVER!

Time Management

Managing time was always been a weakness of mine. If you all didn't know my middle name was Beth, I'd tell you it was Procrastination. I'd like for things to be different, but I guess by the time you're 25, you're pretty much set in the way that you are. Sure, by great determination, I suppose I could make strides to becoming a better time manager. I just don't see it happening any time soon.

College was probably the worst time management experience I've ever had. You see, college, by nature, is so crazy. A phone call at midnight from a friend to go across the street to Blockbuster or Burger King really isn't out of the ordinary. (Late night phone calls took some getting used to. The first week of freshman year, I signed up for information on Student Government and was shocked to get a phone call at 11 pm! I told the person on the other line that I was already in bed and it was too late to discuss my joining Student Government. Yes, I know, terribly dorky. College life took some getting used to.) So, late night phone calls eventually became a welcome part of the college experience; last minute phone calls were too. It wasn't strange for a friend to call at 6:55 pm to say, "Hey, you wanna go to the cafeteria for dinner at 7?" If I didn't make myself get used to, and even look forward to, late night and last minute phone calls, then I would have missed some precious moments at UM. So, both of those things make planning and managing time difficult because what if I had a paper due the very next day and my friend called at midnight and said, "Let's go rent a movie!"? I would forget about the paper and spend time with my friend. I always thought about the consquences later...and dealt with them then.

Another factor that made college a hard place to effectively manage my time was the possibility for nonstop conversation, especially if you had a roommate (and especially if you had a roommate who you semi-liked). Freshman year I was fortunate, from the studious standpoint, not to absolutely LOVE my roommate or anyone else on my floor for that matter (except, if given the chance, I probably would have gotten to be friends with Bob Dylan Boy -- a boy who lived on my floor and played Dylan music loudly enough for someone passing by to hear). First semester I was able to stay in my room, study, do homework, and not get distracted by people too much (unless I ventured out of my room). First semester is the only semester I got straight A's by the way (well, I made straight A's in England too, but I was super student then!). Well, by second semester, I started making friends (who all lived in different dorms). I'd hang out with them all the time, which made time management hard. If a friend would pop in for an unexpected visit and I was in the middle of studying for a History of Christianity exam (which is what I was always studying for because Dr. Kling kicked my butt!), I'd totally forget about the exam and just talk for hours. (When I moved to the Wesley Foundation...forget about it! My goodness, I loved my roommates and all the people who lived there too...so it was possible to go ALL DAY without doing any school work and instead fill it with all sorts of conversations.)

Now, the above makes it sound like time management was hard because of not wanting to miss special moments with friends. While that is true, another HUGE factor is my tendency to lean heavily torwards procrastination. I knew well in advance when certain books had to be read, papers had to be written, and exmas had to be studied for. And I waited until the last minute possible. During senior year, if anything was due on a Thursday, shoooooot, I was out of luck. Sharon and I enjoyed walking to McDonald's to get Happy Meals on Wednesdays (I collected all the Spy Kids toys) and then we'd watch Dawson's Creek and Felicity together (sometimes Palumbo would join us, who happened to be one of the funniest guys...EVER -- quite possibly the funniest guy at UM, but not in the world...for he isn't funny all the time). Also, during senior year Dr. Kling enjoyed kicking my butt again when I took his awesome class, Religion in American Life. (When you love a teacher, you work your butt off to do well. That is exactly what I did...as I begin to brag on myself, sorry...and so I LOVED when we took an exam and then the next class he read from the BEST essays, always reading mine!) I remember one time, the pressure was on to get the best grade in the class on the next test, and who comes to town for a quick visit but Karen Jane! Man, she's like my best friend, so of course I was thrilled to see her! We hung out all evening and night and I just said, "To heck with Dr. Kling...I love Karen more!" No studying was done that night. And you know what? I don't even remember what my score was on Dr. Kling's exam. I do remember the great time Karen and I shared together though.

So, this whole post was actually brought on by another visit with Karen (and Philip and Marnie). Thursday, they came to Palm Bay High and I got to show off my phat classroom. We went to Atlanta Bread to eat lunch and then I had to go and sit at an uncomforable table for 3 freaking hours assigning lockers to kids. Well, yesterday (Friday), after 11 am there was no planned meetings or events for the teachers (we were just trusted to go ahead and plan until 4 pm, making sure to get everything in order for the first day next Tuesday). My room was a wreck. Books are everywhere (so many books you would DIE if you saw how many), but I picked up my phone at 11 am and called Karen. I was ready to play and worry about all the work I had to do later.

We had lunch with Karen's mom and her coworkers at the best pizza place EVER, The Pizza Gallery (where food becomes art). Philip thought my all time favorite pizza EVER sounded like CRAP. What do you think: The Rembrandt, a white pizza with pasta and shrimp. Yummmm. After lunch it was time for my 4th viewing of Napoleon Dynamite. Neither Karen nor Philip said they'd see it in the theater 4 times, but they did both enjoy it. (I thought it was so coincidental that Kelly also saw it yesterday, but I have her beat. It was only her 3rd time!) I already told Kelly the moral of the movie (that just came to me one day), but I'll tell you all here in case you're dying to know. The moral of Napoleon Dynamtie (well, maybe it's not the moral, but definitely a theme): In the game of tetherball, everyone is just looking for someone to play him/her (and of course, tetherball is a beautiful metaphor for life...don't let tetherball beat you up and knock your glasses off, get up and fight back). After the movie, we just hung out a bit and I knew that my afternoon spent with the Tallons was worth WAY more than whatever work I might have done back in K-207.

This morning I went into school for about 2 and a half hours. It was so very quiet. I didn't see anyone save for a custodian who was painting the handrails to the stairs in K wing. I got so much work done in just those 2 hours than I would have in the 5 hours that I skipped yesterday. It all worked out!! I did bring my teacher editions of my textbooks home thinking that I'd work all afternoon. Do you know what I did instead?! I listened to "Ice Ice Baby" (I'm in the process of committing all those extreme lyrics to memory, something Philip has already done...he's too cool for me) on repeat until I could take it no more. Then I slept. I don't know for how long, but until 4 pm. It was a great nap. The sky was grey, my room was dark, and Vanilla was sounding smooth (just kidding about Vanilla, I was listening to DC4C).

Tomorrow I will not work much, if at all. I will be embarking on a great adventure: jet skiing. This is something I've never done, and to tell you the truth, I'm pretty nervous about it! But, it's Philip's birthday and it will afford some more Tallon time, so what's that? Correct, it will be WAY WORTH IT. Because pretty soon they'll be 3000 miles away with Nessie and shortbread and kilts and whiskey and without me. So, I best make the most of the time we have!

The Latest Blog EVER

I think this is probably the latest blog that I've ever posted, but that's kind of fun. After talking to Kelly tonight, she brought some things to my attention, so I thought I'd post an update. If you're a regular reader, you might remember my list of Things That I Want To Do While I Am 25 (in no particular order) that I posted back on June 14 (my 25th birthday). Well, let's just see where I stand.

1. Read More (this includes the Bible, general fiction, classics, and things concerning theological matters)
I've been doing this...completing Peter Pan, beginning The Wind and the Willows and Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland (all of which I consider classics); just this Tuesday when I should have been paying attention in Bible study, I read the books of Amos and Obadiah (they're not that long, but it does classify as reading more of the Bible, now doesn't it?), I've had to read general fiction as I've been trying to read the 10th grade text book which I begin teaching in less than a week, and as for theological matters? Well, I began a book of 10 of John Wesley's sermons on the Holy Spirit before June 14, but I finished it after (so I guess that counts).
2. Write a song (but not just any song: one that I wouldn't mind playing for someone...also, I'd like to just once write a song that is not in the key of E or capoed on the third fret in the key of G - I too easily fall into ruts)
Well, I've kind of been working on this one since around the end of April. A working title is Non-Negotiables (I guess I should take the time to figure out how to spell that properly...oh well). However, even thought it's not done, I'm not quite to the point of playing it for someone (which is stupid, I know).
3. Win the Jokealympics AND continue making up really funny jokes :-)
If you ask Karen's mom, I DID win the Jokealympics. I am still coming up with the goods though, I really am THAT funny!
4. Win the affections of my mean, fat cat (a girl can dream, can't she?)
I still haven't accomplished winning the affections of my mean, fat cat (Chloe), but I did sort of win over May (Ryan's kitten...but she was cold and wet and probably would have loved anyone warm and dry).
5. Stop procrastinating as much as I do (I can't say stop procrastinating completely because quite honestly, I recognize an impossible feat when I see one)
That's a negative.
6. Memorize scripture (this is something that I haven't done since I made my first graders memorize a verse each week)
Well, I haven't done this either, but just today I quoted 2 Bible verses to a friend during a chat! That should count for sometheeeeng :-).
7. Go on an adventurous road trip to see/meet dear friends (which will hopefully happen at the end of July, but it won't be to the Grand Canyon...that'll come one day)
If anyone cared to read the longest blog ever, you know this indeed happened.
8. Try every single flavor smoothie at Melbourne's Tropical Smoothie (even though some will be un-tasty, at least I can say I've tried them all...like, I can boast that I tried all 36 flavors of Coca Cola products at the Coke Factory...I walked away with the stomach ache to prove it)
Sadly, this hasn't happened. I'm well on my way...give me time.
9. Teach someone something that s/he will remember, and appreciate, for the rest of his/her life.
Kelly told me today that I accomplished this and she's living proof. Man, I love you, Kelly!
10. Move away from Palm Bay (not that I don't enjoy living here at the moment, I'd like to see myself move on during the next year, however, since my birthday falls in the beginning of the summer, chances are I'll be 26 before I leave)
Ok, we know this hasn't happened. But, it will. Yes, it will.
11. Get happy, yellow shoes
This nearly happened when I was in Nashville, but sadly when I found the very low top yellow Converse shoes that I so wanted (they're called SUNSHINE, how happy is that?), they didn't have my size...at all.
12. Go to some pretty awesome concerts (like Aaron Carter?...more like Bleeding Charity :-), Derek and Sandra, Bob, Dave Matthews Band, Switchfoot among others)
Haven't been to one yet...but 2 are on the horizon. In October I will travel to Atlanta to see Derek and Sandra in concert and the following week I will see old school Amy Grant. Maybe I'll see Relient K in September if the CIA (Christians in Action) goes to Rock the Universe. I would have seen Taking Back Sunday with Kelly, but she ditched me for her grandparents? What?!

So now, it's 11:45 pm, which is late. I am going to bed...soon.

musical heroes

The only difference between R. Pettit and B. Dylan is time (and a bad perm).

kelly's curls

If beautiful hair is a crime, lock me up and throw away the key.
(that's from an abercrombie and fitch ad that i saw and thought was too funny not to do something with). Thing I wish I had: curly hair.

back to school

I'm writing to you from my brand new classroom on my brand new AWESOME computer! I don't know how I got so lucky, but I did, and I'm dang thankful. My classroom sits perched on the upstaris of K-Wing (which was always the cool place to have your locker when I was a student at PBHS) and it's next door to Mrs. Beggs (my former English teacher...who I love!). Furthermore, I'm right above the deans' offices, which I'm sure will come in quite handy. I'm overlooking the patio courtyard, so I've got palm trees out my windows. I'm a hop, skip, and a jump from the front office, teacher's lounge, and the cafeteria...so really, what more could a girl want? What's that? A new computer?! Oh yeah, I got one of those too! I got to school and saw this amazing new black Dell looking nice and spiffy sitting on my desk. The best part was that it was already set up (I do not like dealing with computers at all, so the less I have to do, the better). Also, my desk got set up against the back wall of windows, so as I sit at my computer, I can look out the window! How perfect is that?! I have one of those mice with a roller ball on top (something I didn't have last year). My keyboard is awesome (my space bar would stick last year, making typing anything extrememly annoying). I guess I couldn't be happier.

Today is the first day of registration. I was sitting in the gym for the first 2 hours (until I was bumped out of there by cross country) trying to recruit students for Future Problem Solving and Odyssey of the Mind (thanks, Heather, for signing up!). It was so great to see some students come running over to say hello! I love back to school time because there's this innocent air of excitement all around. It's like the students don't mind that their parents are there and it's cute to see them walking the halls together going through the new schedule. Kids are happy to see each other again, and surprisingly enough, they're happy to see us teachers too. Great fun.

We have a phat new voicemail system that I just got finished getting trained on. I'm excited to set it all up. I was just taking a break and wanting to use my new amazing computer for something...so why not a blog?! The rest of today will include a 3 hour stint at the locker and activity fees table at registration from 1-4 pm, eating some kind of lunch relatively soon, and getting my bulletin boards set up. I can even play cds on my brand spanking new computer (again, something I could not do last year). So right now, I'm enjoying the mellow tunes of the best CD mix EVER (The Cash Brothers and Amanda Held with a side of a few others). Sadly, Kelly, I have not burned those DC4C songs onto a CD yet. Soon...very soon.

I've had enough of a break now. I'm off to do other things, like going to get colored paper for my bulletin boards! Man! Sometims teaching can be SO much fun. Today is definitely a better day than yesterday.

The Best Road Trip...EVER

The best road trip ever began last Tuesday at 10 am, and continued on until 10 am this morning when I arrived back home, safe and sound. I wish that I could say that I knew all along that it’d be the best road trip ever, but I can’t. You see, destinations changed, disappointments were suffered, and some anxiety was felt…but fortunately, driving 2,426 miles affords lots of time for being still and quiet, listening to music, and praying (especially once you cross over into Tennessee, which is breathtaking to drive through). So, let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start…

Last Tuesday I arrived in Marietta, GA (just outside of Atlanta) at about 6 pm to visit my grandmother. It was an important visit of sorts, since it will probably be the last time I ever visit her at 2563 (her house number). In October she is moving. She moved to 2563 the same year I was born, so I grew up visiting her there. Being only an 8 hr. drive, we would often go up for a visit (one time leaving immediately after a Dylan concert ended around midnight…driving straight through until morning)! Anyway, 2563 is so familiar. Her backyard was so much fun to play in. Her white porch swing was so much fun to swing on. But mostly, whenever I would go visit Mums, I’d spend all my time either playing with my Aunt Alison’s old Barbie dolls (she had a Barbie doll hotdog stand) or sitting on the floor looking through all the photo albums. Looking through those photo albums is something I could never grow tired of! I love seeing my mom as a kid and I always have the thought that if I was born 30 years earlier, we’d have been great friends. Well, I didn’t play with Barbies or look through old photo albums on this visit. Mums had a nice dinner waiting for me and then we watched the democratic convention.

Wednesday morning, probably around 10 am, I headed north for Blountville, TN (which is in the right hand corner of the state…it’s as if you could stand with one foot in TN and one foot in VA. I traveled to Blountville to see Patrick and Aubrey. I haven’t seen them, or really been in contact with them, since their wedding last July (which was a totally amazing and beautiful wedding on top of a mountain in Sweetwater, TN). Pat and Aubrey weren’t expecting me until 6 pm, so I had some time to kill. I didn’t bother looking at a map (well, I didn’t have a map to look at), but rather wanted to be free to read road signs and just pull off the interstate whenever I wanted to. I decided to pull off when I saw the signs for the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. While trying to get to the park, I first had to go through about 20 miles of a tourist trap in Dolly Land and Pigeon Forge, which was mildly annoying. The Smokey Mountains were amazing. The road that runs through them is awfully close to a river, so as I drove through with my windows down, I heard the running water…and Amy Grant (as I carefully selected her cd Lead Me On to be the soundtrack for my mountainous journey). Every now and then I’d come up to a clearing and I would literally lose my breath and my heart would skip a beat because it was so beautiful! I guess I’m glad that I’ve been born and raised in hot and flat Florida, because now it’s like I’m waking up to the rest of the world whenever I see something new. I love seeing each hill and curve in a road! It’s just so unlike Florida. I got to Patrick and Aubrey’s right at 6 pm and was scared to death to pull into their driveway. It was nearly a 90 degree angle (ok, so it wasn’t that steep, but it certainly was a great inclined plane!). What an awesome evening we shared! Patrick and Aubrey both just graduated from seminary and this last week was Patrick’s orientation to…MEDICAL SCHOOL! So now, instead of calling him Pastor Pat, I call him Dr. Pat! Anyway, we went into the town where his med school was and had a great dinner (all of us ordering the same thing…how often does that happen??!!). Then we went to the cutest coffee shop EVER, Cow and Coffee, where I had delicious apple cider. Aubrey told the entire story of her and Patrick meeting, dating, falling in love, getting engaged, and getting married. Hearing their story made my entire insides smile, it’s that sweet! I got to see the wedding pictures, and some honeymoon pictures (Patrick surprised Aubrey by taking her to Anne of Green Gables country…Prince Edward Island…what I saw of it was truly beautiful!). Afterwards, we headed back to their house, which is simply charming and beautiful too! It just turned 100 years old! The ceilings are very high, which I think is great! We watched the DVD of their wedding, and proposal (which was hilarious to see unsuspecting Aubrey scream!). We had a great prayer time together and then it was time for bed! The next morning, Aubrey made a lovely breakfast for the two of us (as Patrick had to leave bright and early for med school orientation). Aubrey and I had a great time getting to know one another better (we both love to scrapbook!!). I hated to leave, but I had to get to Music City!

Thursday morning I hit the road around 11 am and headed toward Nashville. The 4.5 hr drive from Blountville to Nashville was the most beautiful one I encountered. I’d just be driving along this twisting highway and come upon a huge expanse of wildflowers right in the grassy median. The flowers were amazing! There were yellows, oranges, reds, pinks. I wanted to pull over so badly and just stare at them, but there were no pull over spots L. I pulled off the highway again in search of another National Park, Cumberland Gap. It couldn’t live up to the Great Smokey Mountains, but it was a nice highway break. I arrived in Nashville and found my hotel with no problems. I quickly changed into my red boots and cowgirl snap shirt and I headed out, once again without a map, to find Belmont University and Bongo Java’s. Probably about 2 hours later, I was finally on Belmont Blvd. My feet hurt and it was so hot that my boots and cowgirl snap shirt found their way into my trunk before too long. I went to Bongo Java’s, home of the infamous nun bun (a cinnamon bun with the visage of Mother Teresa), and got a terribly overpriced peanut butter cookie (which was good) and a pina coloda smoothie (which eventually made me want to throw up). I climbed the huge hill to Belmont University, settled myself in a pinkish gazebo (there were gazebos ALL over…very charming), wrote in my journal, ate my cookie, drank my smoothie, and then realized that I was feeling too ill to continue sitting there. I walked back to my car and it was nearly 7:30. Not knowing what to do, I decided to go to Opry Mills (an unbelievably and unnecessarily huge mall) to kill some time. I was feeling really disappointed with my Nashville trip – seeing as though I have pretty much dreamed of eventually moving/living there. I thought that once I got to Nashville I’d be elated, my heart would be full, and I’d be so excited at the prospects of movie there. But, that didn’t happen. I was also kind of lonely and remembering all my Nashville trips, which all happened with my dad. I even tried giving him a call…but he didn’t answer. Anyway, I had hoped to see Garden State, the movie with the guy from Scrubs and Natalie Portman, but it wasn’t playing (I hate when movies open in limited release…which really means, “Hey, we’re sorry that you don’t live in LA or New York, you’re losers and we don’t want you to see our movie!”). I set out to find some yellow low top Converse…and found them in the last store I went to. However, the smallest size they had was about 2 sizes too big. Denied. Leaving the mall, I got on the wrong highway and it was pitch black dark, so I was annoyed and a little scared. But, with a little bit of patience, and the tunes of happy Relient K, I found my way and made it back to my stellar hotel which was directly in the flight pattern of Nashville’s International Airport! My shaky Nashville experience ended brilliantly though, with a phone conversation with Ryan in Wilmore, KY…my next day’s destination.

On Friday I left Nashville around 10:30 and wasn’t too sad to leave the Bat Building behind (one of Music City’s trademark building, Bell South, that towers over all others in downtown). Eventually, I was through the bustling city traffic and back to winding roads with signs that call your attention to Falling Rocks (too funny). Since the drive to Wilmore was only about 4 hours and I didn’t need to be there until 7 pm, I had quite a bit of time to kill. My mom, having looked at a map, called to tell me to try to check out Mammoth Cave National Park calling it the 8th wonder of the world. So, sure enough, I pulled off the highway in order to check it out. On my way I came across Jellystone National Park (oh yes, Yogi Bear’s home!). It was too funny. Tiny little cabins everywhere, wooden cutouts of BooBoo and Yogi all over the place, and a big plastic Yogi guarding the steps to the pool slide. The cave was pretty amazing. It’s the biggest cave in the world spreading 365 miles. It remains at a constant 54 degrees all year, so it was lovely to cool off in…however, I seriously thought snow would begin falling! They hold Christmas Carol concerts down in the cave and I thought that was pretty cool. While I was walking in the cave, I thought how cool it would be to bring a guitar down there and play and sing. After my short tour of the cave, I decided to hike down to the river trail. It was a great, easy walk down hill (little did I realize it would be a nightmare hiking back UP the hill!). I eventually landed at this beautiful look out on a wooden boardwalk. It overlooked an opening to a cave that had water dripping down. The sound of the falling water was beautiful and the whole scene just called me to sit down and stay for awhile. So I stayed, looked, took a couple of pictures, and journaled. On my painful uphill hike, I saw a deer across the trail from me! It was a good picture op. On my way out of the park, I saw another deer right by the side of my car! It was amazing. So, back on the highway, heading towards Wilmore, KY, I pulled off again when I saw the signs for Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace! It was neat to see. He really was born in a log cabin! I took a picture of the spring that was on his property. It was beautiful!

At 7 pm I was in Wilmore. I love this town so much. It is perfect. Simply perfect with hanging baskets of flowers from the lamp posts. I kind of had this thing on my road trip where I would stop for food when I saw a Chick-Fil-A sign and I’d stop for gas when I saw a BP sign (I like the green and yellow flower on their signs). Well, all day on I looked for a Chick-Fil-A sign and the hungrier I got, the more determined I was that certainly the NEXT exit would have one. But the next exit never had one. I survived on Gatorade from the BP station and an oatmeal and raisin granola bar that was in my glovebox. As you can well imagine, by 7 pm, I was famished! And guess what the truly amazing thing is: Ryan had Chick-Fil-A coupons! The world can’t get much better, now can it? So, we were soon on our way into Lexington to dine at Chick-Fil-A, and what a beautiful ride into town it was as we listened to autumn sounding music and I learned about the big things of hay! I couldn’t believe that Ryan had only been to Chick-Fil-A one other time…how in the world can someone not dine regularly at Chick-Fil-A…I’ll never understand! We then did one of my most favorite things in the world: stopped for ice cream! We both had raspberry ice cream with chocolate chunks, although I got way more chocolate chunks than he did: I won there. Afterwards, we headed back to Main Street and enjoyed an evening of listening to Bob and the rain. There really isn’t anything better than rain! Even the thunder and lightning were great fun. Saturday was the best day ever! The drive into town was so great because there were clouds over head and it was the most comfortable weather ever. We ate at the most peculiar fast food restaurant I’ve ever been to. It was a Long John Silver’s and A&W (we were not there for the fried fast seafood…which I find a little fishy!, we were there for the root beer!). Napoleon Dynamite was next on our agenda. We saw it in the neatest movie theater I’ve ever been to. It was old fashioned and the in the theater itself it felt like something out of EPCOT (namely the Mexico attraction as Ryan pointed out). Napoleon was way fun to watch again! A strange, bizarre movie. It was then time to head over to Joseph-Beth’s a bookstore like Barnes and Noble (complete with an escalator…how fun are those??!!). Time was spent poring over children’s classics until Ryan decided upon Peter Pan and The Wind and the Willows (also picking up Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for me!!). Really, there’s no greater section in a bookstore than the children’s department. We got some Super Food, which I was quite scared of when I opened mine up (a smoothie of sorts) because the cap looked like mold (but there was no mold). I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was! On our way back on the winding roads leading to Wilmore, it began raining. It rained a lot, and I even saw a rainbow! Ryan’s poor kittens were caught outside in the torrential downpour and although I felt sorry for them, I just had to laugh. Wet cats are probably one of the funniest things EVER. After a dinner of pizza without spicy banana peppers, we did a little reading on Peter Pan outside on the neatest swing EVER! Now, what makes a swing the neatest EVER?! Well, when it sits outside in a green field amidst trees, fireflies, and frolicking kittens, it’s pretty much the neatest swing EVER…even when it’s wet from the rain. As it began to get dark, we decided to go see if we could rent the DVD of Peter Pan in the neatest video store EVER! Now, what makes a video store the neatest EVER?! Well, when you go in and instead of picking a video off the shelf, you just take a little tag hanging on a hook in front of the video, it’s pretty much the neatest video store EVER…even when they’re out of Peter Pan on DVD. Well, the disappointment of a failed venture to the video store was relieved some by two soft kittens (maybe the rain did their fur some good) who crawled up into our laps on the back porch where we spent the evening petting a purring May and Freddy. So ended my Wilmore/Ryan visit, which even without the Tallons or Icthus, was the best visit to Wilmore EVER.

On Sunday I was on the road again at around 9:30. Sunday was my longest driving day ever. I was heading to Jacksonville to see Kate and Jon. The 11 hr drive passed very quickly due to my new cds (thanks for the great mixes, Ryan)…but guess what?! I didn’t get to eat all day because it was SUNDAY and Chick-Fil-A’s are closed on Sundays. So, lots of Gatorade and 3 granola bars were enjoyed. Around 8:30 pm I arrived in Jacksonville at Kate and Jon’s lovely home with wooden floors and high ceilings! Jon had cooked a wonderful dinner of the fanciest ravioli ever and for dessert we had my favorite, ice cream (but with raspberry sauce on top which was quite the delicious treat). We ended up watching, quite possibly, the craziest movie ever! Now, what makes a movie the craziest EVER?! I can’t really go into that here on my blog, but take my word for it. We saw Bubba Ho-Temp….and then it was bedtime.

I got home around 10:30 this morning. My cats seemed happy to see me. Chloe wouldn’t let me touch her, but that’s usual. She did lay at my feet while I checked my email. Saffie purred loudly and took a nap with me. Oh, sweet Saffie. The rental car was returned, my laundry still isn’t done, and I begin school tomorrow…which is sad. But, at least I’m high off the heels of the best road trip EVER.

If you actually read to the end of this rather lengthy blog, thanks. Come again J.