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!

Who Vacations in Arkansas, You Ask??

We do! In fact, we had a really lovely time. It is very pretty there. Our kayaking was short-lived.
The water was EXTREMELY low, but Dexter was able to swim along with us on the Mulberry River. He was so worn out. The views and hiking were spectacular, though and we enjoyed the exploration. We even came accross this beautiful clear stream where Brian is taking a picture of me from a cliff. Doesn't it look like I'm flying??



We followed our Arkansas vacation with a weekend in Birmingham, Alabama, where Brian became officially certified to scuba dive. I just hung out with Dexter and shopped...I wish I had taken this course with him though. The place where they got to do their check-out dive was this awesome old pit mine filled with crystal blue water...and they had a high dive! I LOVE high dives!!!
Instead, I got swoop bangs.


what do you think? This isn't a great picture, but I am enjoying their swoopiness!


....and i figured i should throw in a goofy picture of Brian....it seems necessary and i just think this is the perfect photo to publicize!
Alas, now we are back home and getting ready to trudge back to school again. Summer has been heavenly. I don't want it to end!!

On the road....

We're vacationing! I'm stealing a little internet as we came by this fascinating lodge this evening. Brian, Dexter, and I are camping in the Ozarks of Arkansas. It is just beautiful! We hiked today and have seen the sights from atop the beautiful mount magazine. Tomorrow we're off to find some rivers to paddle! Our fingers are crossed that there will be some water! We'll keep in touch!!

Weekend Trading Spaces with Lori!

This weekend, my best friend from high school came up to visit. We had a girls' weekend because Brian was in Atlanta taking a scuba certification course. We played trading spaces and did all kinds of painting projects, the biggest being painting our bedroom.

The room is now burnt orange...actually "earth tone," such a boring name considering how many fun names there are for paint. The wall hanging and pillow covers, as well as the shams and blanket at the bottom of the bed, are from India. My sister brought them back for us. It was really difficult to make everything work together. It still isn't finished, because I am going to change the curtains and we have picked out a bedspread that we will pick up Friday. I'm going to try and pull out more of the aqua from the wall hanging instead of the browns. It is dark and unique, but I like that it was pieced together with my sister's interesting elements from her life in India.

We also tackled some smaller projects like painting the hood above our stove. It has transformed from the harvest gold ugliness seen in the photo, to a really cool hammered metal. That was Lori's idea. I matched a few other things in the kitchen to it.

We crackle painted my bedside table, using a cool copper base coat, and painted a little dresser for our guest room black and did what they call "Shabby Chique" technique to it. When that room is finished, I'll give an updated photo.

Holy Zucchini!

today I visited the garden after a short weekend trip to atlanta. just before we left i checked the garden to see if anything needed to be picked. all of the zucchinis, which is all i seem to be producing very well, were pretty small. today i picked the above produce. look at the huge one! i've never seen such an enormous zucchini. i'm going to try a stuffed zucchini recipe with it.



the camera arrived today! these pictures are some of its very first. in my yearbook class at school, we name our cameras. Our main camera is named "Henry," so i think it will be appropriate for this camera to have a name also. Everyone, please make some suggestions.

check this out!

I'm just fiddling around with what I can do with my blog. I wondered if this video from my photobucket would work...it turns out it really does! So, let's backflash to the summer of 2005, when Brian and I were sea kayak guides in the San Juans.

You know how when you live somewhere, or do something all the time, you take it for granted? LIke seeing the whales like this was our job, so I always thought, "oh, next time I'll get a good picture or a cool video." You know I never did! This little video, that will probably make you dizzy, was taken by my cousin Lara. Brian and I led a private trip with my parents and Suzanne, Uncle Rusty, and Lara. We happened upon Super Pod - which means all three of the resident pods that live around the islands during the summer were meeting up for a family reunion. This happened to us twice throughout the summer and it happened to be once when family was there.

We are sitting in sea kayaks as the whales just cruised right by us.

This little Island is Stuart Island, upon which it is my dream to own a piece of property and have a yurt or a little earthen house. The view of one side of the island is of the straight, where the whales pass by frequently.

Wish everyone could have been there to see it!

Let me know if you can view the video.

Chivo and Parker, Dexter's new pals

This week we have friends over at our house. Chivo and Parker belong to the Hopkins family, who are on vacation this week. The dogs have had so much fun chasing balls and sticks, and figuring out who's the alpha. It turns out it is Parker. He is the German Shepherd. They have been very entertaining.

Unfortunately, though, they enjoy running right through my teeny little garden. I picked the first zucchini from it yesterday. Soon we should have some squash and tomatoes, but this little cucumber- my only one- has been the same little puny size for so long now!

I wanted to make zucchini egg fu yung, because it is my favorite thing to make, but I think Brian is tired of it...even though I haven't made it in a long time. So, today, I think I will make some zucchini bread with my new zuccini.


I also want you all to see the little planting projects my mom and I did while she was here. It is fun...I hope to do more! We have had a little birds nest in our fern on the front porch and we would see the mama bring worms to her babies until finally...I think over the weekend while we were at Charlie and Rachael's wedding, the little birdies flew away.

So, it's fireworks time! What is everyone doing for the fourth? We are hoping to round up a little group to paddle down an easy section of the Chattooga, and then maybe head over to the head of school's shin dig at their home. We'll see.

Well, I have thoroughly enjoyed blogging again, even though I know you hear a lot about plants and dogs...that's our fun! Ooh! But I just ordered a really fancy new canon digital camera with our tax return money, and I can't wait to post some pictures from it! Yay!