Vacation

so, recently my family and i went to texas for vacation. Here are a few pictures. Enjoy!

jason and i waiting on our boat cruise.


waiting on our tour of the capital, which was quite nice!


Granny & I


All of us on the riverwalk. (I look a mess!)

overwhelmed, to say the least!

ok, july is going by way to fast. i went in to work last week, just to check out my new room. oh my, oh my! so much to do so little time. of course i was there all of 5 minutes before my principal got me started on a huge project for the whole school. so, for the past few days i've been going in and working on that for a few hours. while, my class sits in shambles. see the problem is i get there around 10ish and work hard on this project for a few hours. always with the hope that i'll work on my class for a few hours afterwards. well, by 1ish i'm usually exhausted mentally and physically. so i usually leave and nothing is getting accomplished. (sigh). oh well, i'll try again tomorrow.

nothing else going on....i have two potential names to start piano lessons (thank you, paul..who'll never read this). yeah, im on that kick again. but this time it really looks promising. so, pray for me. i've really been disgusted and frustrated w/ my playing lately. this past sunday it was just really hard to get into the music. i've found that when i play that's how i worship him, since i dont get to spend as much time just standing and singing the words. so, i really want to do my best...its so frustrating. i feel like i'm "half-stepping" in everything i do. why cant i be totally awesome at one thing???? oh well. ok, seriously nothing else is going on. until the next update..smooches!!! ;)

july

wow....what at way to start this month. i've been on the road for the past 2 wks. first a few of us gals (liz, jacks, & jen) took a roadtrip to ohio. we were going for a wedding in springfield, but decided to make a weekend of it. we stopped first in cincinnatti to visit the National Underground Railroad Freedom Museum. it was AWESOME! we didnt even get through it. but, we're planning on going back for a young adult trip in sept. then we headed to springfield, where we went to a beautiful wedding. (congrats, lezlie). the next day we woke up early to head for cleavland. we spent the whole sunday with them. it was so nice to get to know them even better. im realizing more and more that its so hard to really get to know the saints at the meetings. there's just so much going on. my goal is to get out more and visit the saints in between meetings. anyhoo, after all of that we came back to chicago where i left out early, early to fly to texas to meet my family. we went on a little vacation there. we toured austin, dallas, and san antonio. san antonio was by far my favorite. the riverwalk is awesome. hopefully i can go back soon. it's actually not a bad place to go alone. if you want to just sit and enjoy the riverwalk and good food. im back here in AR, now. i'll be here for a few weeks before heading back to the joles. i actually kind of miss it. it's weird, i don't think i've ever really been like, "ok, it's time for me to go back." thats a good thing, though.

i found this poem on one of my favorite websites/blogs. it basically embodies my spiritual goal for this summer.


Give me the grace to care
Without neglecting my needs,
The humility to assist
Without rescuing,
The kindness to be clear
Without being cold,
The mercy to be angry
Without rejecting,
The prudence to disclose
Without disrespecting my privacy,
The humor to admit human failings
Without experiencing shame,
The compassion to give freely
Without giving my self away.
~Author Unknown


check out the website "Young Ladies Christian Fellowship". It has really helped me through some rough times.thanks, elizabeth for sharing it with us gals. i've added it to my links if you want to take a look. ok, im exhausted. consider this your july update. there's really not much going on right now. until later, :)