MOVING!!!!!

So Long Blogspot....Hello .mac account! 

I hope you will all check out my new creation. I'm still learning about it. There is much to learn, but I would like for everyone to please replace this address for the one listed below. Visit often, for having said that, I will be FORCED to hold myself to a "[hopefully] weekly" blog.

We shall see......

Her is the link:

Mary Carol's new website

My Dad sent this to me via email....a Holiday Questionnare! Do partake if you so choose...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I find real joy in a beautifully wrapped gift. A gift bag is generally a cheat in my book...but that's okay. Sometimes we have to cheat!

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real! Though it isn't supported in our "reduce our carbon footprint plan," I could never live without the smell and authenticity of a real frazier fir. I am in fact okay with not having one this year, since we won't be here.

3. When do you put up the tree? Growing up, it was always the weekend after Thanksgiving- that Sunday- but it could be anywhere between then and Christmas...like the rest of the world.

4. When do you take the tree down? Last year, I believe it was February....ya. Why go to so much trouble not to enjoy it right?

5. Do you like egg nog? mmmmm.delicious.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? So many were favorites at the time, but now looking back, hmmm....my Dad's old guitar and lessons. I only regret that I didn't take better advantage.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Not a really neat one of my own. I grew up with such interesting ones from Africa and so forth. I feel like so many are just super cheapo/tacky.

8. Hardest person to buy for? teenagers....my neice was the toughest this year.

9. Easiest person to buy for? I like that my Dad will appreciate anything useful and inexpensive.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail if I have the time...this year...outlook bad. E-mail won't happen either...So- Merry Christmas!!

11 .Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Lame Christmas decorations...ooh- and this re-gift which was an ornamental spotted dog scene...so strange...and I remember as a little girl, a cornshuck doll of a mama spanking a baby with a stick.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? It is a Wonderful Life.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Was I supposed to start yet? oops.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes, but only for those situations where it really makes sense...orobably.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? CLEAR! There's just something about the colored lights that makes it not Christmasy anymore...just so 80's or something!

17. Favorite Christmas song? River by Joni Mitchell

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Well, generally I would say "home," but I am Oh so excited about Christmas in Brazil this year. I think it just depends on the year and the opportunities.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel....specifically Brian's "messy hair" angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One on Christmas eve....p.j.'s, then the rest on Christmas morning.

22 . Most annoying thing about this time of year? TACKY things people put in their yards!!!!

23. Favorite ornament, theme or color? The most memorable ornament from my childhood was a wooden dragon that had wings which would flap then you pulled on the fishing line. It was so big when I was little. It just stood out.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham and pineapple casserole and all the other good stuff my mom makes.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Nothing. A trip to Brazil is enough. If I had to say something, it would be household NECESSITIES. I have gotten really frustrated in the last couple of years with all the waste that goes into Christmas buying. I hate when people feel obligated, but then it's just something that you put on a shelf and have to figure out what to do with later...why have we made this holiday such a devastating attack on the environment each year? ...Am I taking after you Ebenezer?

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Sunday? You're just such a devoted blogger. Now I've put you up to it!

27. Who is least likely to respond to this? Brian

Thankful...

I am thankful for so many things! Where do I begin? Well, let me share 2007's Phillips Family Thanksgiving Adventure...told by Dexter.

So it all started out when my parents packed up our car with all their stuff, including me, picked up Uncle Chris from his apartment at the school, and headed off into oblivion one fine Friday after school. I was content for the 8 hour ride to Uncle Chris's family's farm in West Virginia...man! what a place! We got to spend two days roaming around this 300 acre horse farm, and I hung out with my new friends Spitball (my mom kept laughing at that name), Audrey, and Copper.

We loaded up the car again, minus crazy Uncle Chris, and headed toward Pittsburgh, PA. Mom was super excited about seeing her good friend Bridget for the first time in FIVE years! I was excited when we got to her house because I got to meet Ruby! What a babe! We got to go to the dog park in Pittsburgh and play for hours! woohoo!


Onward we went, after some good fun at Ruby's house. Conway, PA was our next stop. This was my dad's grandmother's house. We saw all the family, and though it was fun, sadly, I was banished to the top of the stairs while everyone made a big fuss about Thanksgiving dinner.

They let me come down while they ate, though. That was worth it. It smelled delicious!

This is the best part! The next morning it snowed!!

I got to go to yet another dog park, this time in the snow and I met even more friends. On our drive home, my dad backed our car into a "decorative wall" at a restaurant where we stopped. He was so mad...I think it's going to be fixed, though.

and last, but not least, a pit stop in good ol' black mountain. Here I am with my twin, Indie. Our parents kept mixing us up. It was hilarious! Hopefully Uncle Nick will bring Indie to visit with me soon!

(okay, this is me for real) It's seems dumb to follow that little anecdotal silliness with the reality of what I'm thankful for, but I blog so little, I might as well get it all out at once.

I'm so thankful for family and I am so thankful for friends. I love that no matter where we are in life, we always have open doors around the country and around the world of friends to welcome us in. I'm thankful we are able to travel. I am thankful for holidays and spending time with family. I'm so thankful that my sister and parents will soon be living closer to me! I'm thankful for jobs, even though I don't always leap out of bed each morning to greet the day with open arms, I remember what it was like without one. I'm thankful for a home in a beautiful place. I'm thankful for my hubbie and his patient demeanor.

Thanksgiving has passed and the hustle bustle of the holidays are definitely here, but I hope I'll continue to give thanks to God each day for what I have in this life.

I'm sorry my pictures are so big. (and darn it! it cut off most of the pictures!!!grrrrr.) Macs don't like blogger, so I'm looking into a .mac account to start a new blog there. I'll keep you posted.

Tag...

So, Becky has tagged me and I must comply. For what excuse do I have? Here I am sitting around avoiding grading tests.

So, here are the 10 most incredible, juicy, secretive, intresting things you never knew about me...

1. I spent a lot of years of my life thinking I wanted to be a professional dancer. (a ballerina, in fact.)

2. I went to drama/dance camp with Mandy Moore, Christine Lakin, Corri English, and some other people you may or may not have seen on tv. (actually, if you ever came over to my house, you knew that because I would have made you watch camp videos..right Becky?)

3. I still feel guilty about telling all my friends in fifth grade I had gotten glasses because I needed them, when actually I had gotten fake glasses at Claire's. ( I still remember the heart to heart me and my dad had when I cried about it)

4. I would like to own an organic bakery and coffee shop one day in the fairly distant future.

5. I love being a wife, and I enjoy taking care of a household, but I HATE (passionately) both ironing and folding fitted sheets.

6. When I was younger, I was EXTREMELY shy, and it wasn't until I was in fifth grade and got into acting that I began to actually talk to people I didn't know really well. I still have major issues with talking on the telephone.

7. I have been seriously contemplating becoming vegetarian lately.

8. I have lived on three different continents...not at the same time... that would be tricky.

9. When I first met Brian, I had this HUGE crush on him. I kinda stalked him one day from my dorm room window, and when I saw him get in the car with another girl ( just a friend, I found out later) I balled my eyes out. I'm not really sure if I ever even told Brian that story. I told you this was juicy!

10. We're trying to get pregnant! This month was our second try, to no avail, and Friday night, I cried when I found out. I know it's silly. I need to be patient....that's another thing I struggle with.

So, if you learned new things about me, that you didn't already know, then this game really is pretty fun. I suppose I have to tag people now...but I have nowhere near 10 people who actually read my blog that aren't already involved in this. I challenge my baby sister, Suzanne. It will be a test to see if she really reads my blog....hmmm.

Celebrating Life...

You wanna know what I'm reading?



This is what I'm reading!!! I've tried countless times to upload the stupid photo of this book in the little custom segment where you do that sort of thing, but nOOOOO. It never uploads there...so here. It is a weirdly great book.


I'm beginning to think in "issues" now, since I spent tonight printing off our September issue of the Middle School Happenings- the student newspaper of the Middle School. In it you will find such interesting articles as "My Summer Adventure," A book review of the book "Hoot", an article on new faculty faces around campus, and my personal favorite, an ad for the monster drawing contest for our Halloween issue! In this segment, you will be given several ideas from which to draw your monster, including a three headed monster, a two headed crab, or a 6 legged bulldog! I have the sweetest seventh grader with asbergers(sp?) who just cracks me up with stuff like this. Kids, gotta love 'em.

I am taking an exercise class twice a week, which is really exciting. I also spend two nights a week at a gymnastics gym in Franklin where our kids get to learn how to do all kinds of things they will later put in our very own Cirque du Soleil-like production in February (you should really come see it. It's AWESOME!).

A couple of weekends ago, we had a wedding on the beach in Wilmington.



We had a wonderful time with my family. It was a happy occasion, good weather, and bare feet. Sadly, we came home to the message that Brian's grandmother, who had suffered from a stroke the week before, was not doing well. She died the next Tuesday and we drove to Pennsylvania that weekend for a funeral.

A wedding, followed by a funeral.

On Sunday, we will visit with Marty and Roger Palmour, the parents of Julia. This was Brian's girlfriend from high school who was killed while biking during their senior year. It will be the 10th anniversary of her death...

...We have celebrated life in many different ways this month.

a smorgasboard...

I haven't really had a whole lot to blog about lately, except the start of school, which is still going well. I plan on taking my camera this week, so maybe I'll update this with a photo of my cherubims...

For now, here is a little randomness.

First is Brian's dad's new project, the Cobra kit car. He is building this car, see. First, he took a wrecked old mustang and stripped it of every useable thing. He has this shell of what will one day be an awesome..."roadster" I believe is the term. He has begun assembling everything and Brian has been helping when he can. This project would take most people at least an entire decade to complete, but I'll be willing to bet Brian's dad will finish before the summer. He's amazing.

Slightly less amazing, but equally bloggable, is our garden.

We have finally gotten something other than zucchini and squash..we now have a ton of roma tomatoes, green peppers, and these little orange peppers that I thought were yellow bell peppers, but I have no idea what they are, cucumbers, strawberries...let's see, oh, the corn rotted and had bugs all over it...bummer, but we only had two stalks come up anyway. This garden went through a lot. First, it's keepers were quite novice and considered it a practice garden anyway...second, we had a late freeze in April and a hail storm at the beginning of the summer that nearly wiped everything out. I'm still hoping for some beets to come up, but I think for now, I'm over gardening. Not that I don't love it, I'm just ready to do it better next time.

Enough about that...last, but not least, I have decided to share a photo of some friends of ours at our house. This is Amanda, Daniel, and April. We have now had two successful gatherings chez nous, and it has been a lot of fun. I hope for more!

And that brings me to conclude this random blog that I am hurrying to finish because I need to be in the library in a few minutes....hope all is well with everyone. I'll blog a little more soon...hey! we have a wedding this weekend at the beach! That should make for some nice blogging material....

Alright, alright. I have been trapped in a whiz of pre-planning and boarding school what not. I have had a WONDERFUL first two days of school. I tell you what, having the first year of teaching behind me make a HUGE difference! Brian and I (who teach the same eighth graders during the day) both came in with a very planned out classroom management idea that we have been teaching the kids and it is SO wonderful! I think this year is going to be a huge success. I truly feel like a teacher and not just a girl trying to get through an English class smoothly. My classroom is all organized and painted the way I want it. I love that my classroom is in an old house. It is really a neato situation. The kids are so great. I have been dealing with the fact that I really think I will see this group of kids through successfully, and realizing that I kinda let down the first group of kids. It is kind of bothering me because I keep having these great ideas of how to be successful in the classroom this year....stuff I just never thought about last year.

On a very positive note, Brian and I were so thrilled to see a student return to ninth grade, one that was just about to leave our school mid year and join the military - he was totally unmotivated and didn't want to be at Rabun Gap, and by the end he decided he wanted to stay, made a big turn-around and it's hard to explain, but it is just that feeling of having reached a kid who might not have otherwise been successful. I hope for that to happen more and more.

okay, well I'm rambling on and on and I have no exciting photos to share, so I'm going to go bed now. I'm glad and hopeful to be back in the blogger world as things settle down. I have enjoyed reading all of your wonderful blogs.

Much love to all!